Personal  Recollections 

...o/... 

President  Abraham  Lincoln 
General  Ulysses  S.  Grant 

...and,.* 

General  William  T.  Sherman 

,../rr... 
MAJOR-GENERAL  GRENVILLE  M,  DODGE 


GIFT    OF 
EVGENE  MEYER,«FR, 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS 

i 

-of- 

President  Abraham  Lincoln, 
General  Ulysses  S.  Grant 
General  William  T.  Sherman 


MAJOR-GENERAL  GRENVILLK  M.  DODGE 

u 


COONCH-    HM.U'l'S.    IOWA 
THK    MONARCH    PRINTING    CO.MPANN 

1914 


PREFACE 


My  personal  recollections  of  President  Lincoln 
and  Generals  Grant  and  Sherman,  all  three  of 
whom,  up  to  the  time  they  died,  showed  their  per 
sonal  friendship  to  me  in  many  ways  and  many 
acts. 

Many  years  ago  I  had  compiled  data  and  writ 
ten  most  of  the  following  pages,  and  from  time  to 
time  I  have  read  papers  before  different  patriotic- 
gatherings  upon  each  of  these  distinguished  men, 
and  have  had  many  requests  for  copies  and  have 
also  been  urged  to  publish  my  recollections. 

During  this  summer  while  on  my  vacation,  I 
have  compiled  my  data  and  rewritten  the  recollec 
tions,  adding  letters  and  official  documents  that  I 
thought  would  be  of  interest. 

GRBNVILLE  MBLLEN  DODGE. 

September,   1914. 


333744 


PRESIDENT   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN,    1864 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS 
OF  LINCOLN 


If  there  is  any  person  living  who  should  be  grateful  for  an 
opportunity  to  pay  his  tribute  to  Abraham  Lincoln,  it  is  myself, 
for  as  President  he  raised  me  from  a  citizen  to  the  highest  com 
mand  and  highest  rank  in  the  army.  He  was  my  friend  from 
the  time  I  first  met  him  until  I  helped  to  lay  him  away  in 
Springfield,  Illinois. 

No  one  can  appreciate  what  that  friendship  and  what  his 
acts  were  to  me,  unless  they  have  experienced  the  benefit  of 
it  as  I  have. 

Now,  before  I  take  up  the  subject  I  am  to  write  upon,  I 
want  to  give  you  Abraham  Lincoln's  own  biography  of  him 
self,  to  show  you  from  what  a  simple  and  low  station  he  arose 
to  be  a, great  Statesman,  a  great  Commander,  a  most  just  and 
kind  ruler — the  best  of  this  era. 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  F.  Fell  he  writes : 

I  was  born  February  12,  1809,  in  Hardin  county,  Kentucky. 
My  parents  were  both  born  in  Virginia  of  undistinguished 
families — second  families  perhaps  I  should  say.  My  mother, 
who  died  in  my  tenth  year,  was  of  a  family  of  the  name  of 
Hanks,  some  of  whom  now  reside  in  Adams,  and  others  in 
Macon  counties,  Illinois.  My  paternal  grandfather,  Abraham 
Lincoln,  emigrated  from  Rockingham  county,  Virginia,  to 
Kentucky  about  1781  or  1782,  where  a  year  or  two  later  he  was 
killed  by  Indians,  not  in  battle  but  by  stealth,  when  he  was 
laboring  to  open  a  farm  in  the  forest.  His  ancestors,  who  were 
Quakers,  went  to  Virginia  from  Berka  county,  Pennsylvania. 
An  effort  to  identify  them  with  the  new  England  family  of  the 
same  name  ended  in  nothing  more  definite  than  a  similarity  of 
Christian  names  in  both  families,  such  as  Enoch,  Levi,  Morde- 
cai,  Solomon,  Abraham,  and  the  like. 

My  father,  at  the  death  of  his  father,  was  but  six  years  of 
age,  and  he  grew  up  literally  without  education.  We  removed 
from  Kentucky  to  what  is  now  Spencer  county,  Indiana,  in 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LINCOLN. 


my  eighth  year.  "We  reached  our  new  home  about  the  time  the 
state  came  into  the  union.  It  was  a  wild  region  with  many 
bears  and  other  wild  animals  still  in  the  woods.  There  I  grew 
up.  There  were  some  schools,  so  called,  but  no  qualification 
was  ever  required  of  a  teacher  beyond  "readin7,  writin',  and 
cipherin '  to  the  rule  of  three. ' ' 

If  a  straggler,  supposed  to  understand  Latin,  happened  to 
sojourn  in  the  neighborhood,  he  was  looked  upon  as  a  wizard. 
There  was  absolutely  nothing  to  excite  ambition  for  education. 
Of  course,  when  I  came  of  age  I  did  not  know  much,  still  some 
how  I  could  read,  write  and  cipher  to  the  rule  of  three;  but 
that  was  all.  I  have  not  been  to  school  since.  The  little  ad 
vance  I  now  have  upon  this  store  of  education  I  have  picked 
up  from  time  to  time  under  the  present  necessity. 

I  was  raised  to  farm  work,  which  I  continued  till  I  was 
twenty-two.  At  twenty-one  I  came  to  Illinois  and  passed  the 
first  year  in  Sanganaw,  now  in  Menard  county,  where  I  re 
mained  a  year  as  a  sort  of  clerk  in  a  store.  Then  came  the 
Black  Hawk  war  and  I  was  elected  a  Captain  of  Volunteers — 
a  success  which  gave  me  more  pleasure  than  any  I  have  had 
since.  I  went  into  the  campaign,  was  elected,  ran  for  the  Leg 
islature  the  same  year  (1832)  and  was  beaten — the  only  time  T 
ever  have  been  beaten  by  the  people.  The  next  and  then  suc 
ceeding  biennial  elections,  I  was  elected  to  the  Legislature.  I 
was  not  a  candidate  afterward.  During  the  Legislature  period, 
I  had  studid  law,  and  removed  to  Springfield  to  practice  it.  In 
1846  I  was  elected  to  the  lower  house  of  Congress.  Was  not  a 
candidate  for  re-election.  From  1849  to  1854,  both  inclusive. 
practiced  law  more  assiduously  than  ever  before.  Always  a 
Whig  in  politics,  and  generally  on  the  Whig  electorial  tickets 
(making  active  canvasses).  I  was  losing  interest  in  politics 
when  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  aroused  me  again. 
What  I  have  done  since  then  is  pretty  well  known. 

If  any  personal  description  of  me  is  thought  desirable,  it 
may  be  said:  I  am,  in  height,  six  feet  four  inches,  nearly; 
lean  in  flesh,  weighing  on  an  average  one  hundred  and  eighty 
pounds:  dark  complexion  with  coarse  black  hair  and  grey 
eyes;  no  other  marks  or  scars  recollected. 

My  first  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Lincoln  was  in  Council 
Bluffs,  Iowa,  in  August,  1859,  I  think  the  llth  day,  right  after 
his  great  debate  with  Douglass.  He  came  here  to  look  at  some 
property  in  the  Riddle  Tract  on  which  he  had  loaned  some 
money  to  Mr.  N.  B.  Judd,  the  attorney  for  the  Rock  Island 
Railroad.  Mr.  Judd  was  also  the  manager  in  the  campaign 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LINCOLN.  9 

with  Douglass.  Mr.  Lincoln,  accompanied  by  Mr.  O.  M.  Hatch, 
Secretary  of  State  of  Illinois,  came  from  Springfield  to  St. 
Joseph  by  rail,  visited  Kansas,  then  came  up  the  Missouri 
River  by  steamboat.  He  found  here  two  old  friends  who  had 
lived  in  Springfield  before  they  came  to  Council  Bluffs,  W.  H. 
M.  Pusey  and  Thomas  Officer.  While  he  was  here  the  Hon.  W. 
H.  M.  Pusey  gave  a  reception  at  his  residence  that  enabled  our 
citizens  generally  to  meet  the  two  distinguished  visitors.  He 
was  also  induced  to  make  a  speech  in  Concert  Hall,  and  the 
local  paper  notices  of  that  speech  and  the  comments  were  as 
follows : 

From  the  Council  Bluffs  "Weekly  Nonpareil,"  August  13, 
1859. 

HON.   A.   LINCOLN   SPEAKS   AT   CONCERT   HALL   THIS 
EVENING  AT  HALF  PAST  7  O'CLOCK- 
GO  AND  HEAR  HIM. 

Hon.  Abe  Lincoln  and  the  Secretary  of  State  of  Illinois. 
Hon.  O.  M.  Hatch,  arrived  in  our  city  last  evening,  and  are 
stopping  at  the  Pacific  House.  The  distinguished  ''sucker" 
has  yielded  to  the  earnest  importunities  of  our  citizens — with 
out  distinction  of  party — and  will  speak  upon  the  political 
issues  of  the  day,  at  Concert  Hall  this  evening.  The  celebrity 
of  the  speaker  will  most  certainly  insure  him  a  full  house.  Go 
and  hear  "Old  Abe." 

From  The  Nonpareil,  August  20,  1859. 
ABE  LINCOLN. 

This  distinguished  gentleman  addressed  a  very  large  aud 
ience  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  at  Concert  Hall  in  this  city,  Sat 
urday  evening  last.  In  the  brief  limits  of  a  newspaper  article, 
it  were  impossible  even  though  we  wielded  the  trenchant  pen 
of  a  Babbitt,  which  we  do  not,  to  give  even  an  outline  of  his 
masterly  and  unanswerable  speech.  The  clear  and  lucid  man 
ner  in  which  he  set  forth  the  true  principles  of  the  republican 
party,  in  the  dexterity  with  which  he  applied  the  political 
scalpel  to  the  democratic  carcass — beggars  of  all  description 
at  our  hands.  Suffice  it,  that  the  speaker  fully  and  fairly  sus 
tained  the  great  reputation  he  acquired  in  the  memorable 
Illinois  campaign,  as  a  man  of  great  intellectual  power — a  close 
and  sound  reasoner. 


10  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LINCOLN. 

The  Bugle,  edited  by  Lyro'nder  W.  Babbitt,  had  this  notice  : 

The  people  of  this  city  were  edified  last  Saturday  evening 
by  a  speech  from  Honorable  Abe  Lincoln  of  Illinois.  Ho 
apologized  very  handsomely  for  appearing  before  an  Iowa 
audience  during  a  campaign  in  which  he  was  not  interested. 
He  then,  with  many  excuses  and  a  lengthy  explanation,  as  if 
conscious  of  the  nauseous  nature  of  the  black  Republican  ros 
trum,  announced  his  intention  to  speak  about  the  "Eternal 
Negro,"  to  use  his  own  language,  and  entered  into  a  lengthy 
and  ingenious  analysis  of  the  "nigger"  question,  impressing 
upon  his  hearers  that  it  was  the  only  question  to  be  agitated 
until  finally  settled.  He  carefully  avoided  going  directly  to  the 
extreme  ground  occupied  by  him  in  his  canvass  against  Doug 
lass,  yet  the  doctrines  which  he  preached,  carried  oi<t  to  their 
legitimate  results,  amount  to  precisely  the  same  thing.  He  was 
decidedly  opposed  to  any  fusion  or  coalition  of  the  Republican 
party  with  the  opposition  of  the  South,  and  clearly  proved 
the  correctness  of  his  ground  in  point  of  policy.  They  must 
retain  their  sectional  organization  and  sectional  character,  and 
continue  to  wage  their  sectional  warfare  by  slavery  agitation ; 
but  if  the  opposition  in  the  South  would  accede  to  their  views 
and  adopt  their  doctrines,  he  was  willing  to  run  for  president 
in  1860,  as  southern  man  with  northern  principles,  or  in  other 
words,  with  abolition  proclivities.  His  speech  was  of  the  char 
acter  of  an  exhortation  to  the  Republican  party,  but  was  in 
reality  as  good  a  speech  as  could  have  been  made  for  the  inter 
est  of  the  Democracy.  He  was  listened  to  with  much  attention, 
for  his  Waterloo  defeat  by  Douglass  has  inagnified  him  into 
quite  a  lion  here. 

Among  others,  I  listened  to  his  speech,  which  was  very  able, 
attractive  and  convincing.  His  manner  of  presenting  his 
argument  was  very  simple,  his  points  so  clear  and  well  defined 
that  it  was  easy  for  anyone  to  comprehend  it.  It  was  -his 
method  that  made  him  so  attractive  as  a  public  speaker.  The 
crowd,  as  well  as  myself,  was  absolutely  convinced  that  what 
he  had  said  was  true,  and  that  his  policy  in  the  negro  question 
in  national  affairs  should  be  adopted. 

During  the  summer  of  1859  I  had  been  engaged  in  making 
reconnaissances  west  of  the  Missouri  River  for  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad.  I  came  back  to  Council  Bluffs  with  my  party, 
arriving  here  some  time  in  August.  Mr.  Lincoln  heard  from 


PHRSOXAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LIN-COLX.  11 

someone  of  my  explorations  and  surveys,  also  that  I  was  in 
Council  Bluffs,  and  he  sought  me  out,  and  on  the  porch  of  the 
Pacific  Hotel,  for  two  hours,  he  engaged  me  in  conversation 
about  what  I  knew  of  the  country  west  of  the  Missouri  River, 
and  greatly  impressed  me  by  the  great  interest  he  displayed 
in  the  work  in  which  I  was  engaged. 

He  inquired  particularly  as  to  the  comparative  merit  of 
the  forty-second  Parallel,  or  Platte  Valley  lines,  writh  the  two 
southern  and  the  northern  lines  surveyed  by  the  Government. 
As  to  the  two  southern,  I  had  no  information;  but  about  the 
northern  survey  I  had  obtained  much  valuable  data. 

As  a  boy,  I  worked  on  Mrs.  Edward  Lander's  farm  in  Dan- 
vers,  Mass.  Her  son,  Frederick  W.  Lander,  was  a  civil  engi 
neer,  and  I  was  acquainted  with  him.  He  was  employed  by 
Lieut.  Isaac  N.  Stevens,  who  had  charge  of  the  northern  sur 
vey  from  St.  Paul  to  Oregon. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  their  party  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  young 
Landers  left  it  to  examine  what  he  believed  to  be  a  superior 
route — following  the  Columbia  and  Snake  River  Valleys, 
thence  through  the  South  Pass  and  down  the  Platte  Valley 
nearly  a  thousand  miles  to  the  Missouri  River  at  Council  Bluffs. 
I  met  him,  and  he  gave  me  full  information  as  to  the  main 
features  of  the  northern  route,  and  how  far  superior  the  nat 
ural  line  was  he  had  followed — holding  the  Snake  and  Platte 
River  line  to  be  far  superior  to  the  northern  survey. 

This  seemed  to  please  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  the  building  of  botli 
these  lines — the  Union  Pacific  &  Oregon  Short  Line,  and  the 
Northern  Pacific — has  fully  proved  Lander's  statements. 

He  stated  that  there  was  nothing  more  important  before 
the  nation  at  that  time  than  the  building  of  the  railroad  to  the 
Pacific  Coast.  He  ingeniously  extracted  a  great  deal  of  infor 
mation  from  me,  and  I  found  the  secrets  I  had  been  holding 
for  my  employers  in  the  East  had  been  given  to  him.  This 
interview  wras  of  the  greatest  importance  to  me.  It  was  a 
milestone  in  my  life,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  never  forgot  it. 


12  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LINCOLN. 

While  he  was  in  Council  Bluffs  the  citizens  took  him  up 
what  is  now  Oakland  avenue,  to  the  point  where  the  road 
turns  into  Rohrer  Park,  and  he  was  greatly  impressed  with 
the  beauty  of  the  landscape.  It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
views  in  the  world.  You  can  look  up  and  down  the  broad 
Missouri  River  valley  for  ten  miles,  and  can  look  across  into 
Nebraska  and  see  Omaha,  and  from  Florence  to  Bellevue. 

The  Lincoln  Memorial  Association  organized  in  this  city 
in  connection  with  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution 
erected  on  that  spot  a  monument  or  memorial  to  Abraham 
Lincoln. 

The  property  which  Mr.  Lincoln  had  in  the  Riddle  Tract 
was  joined  by  that  of  Mr.  C.  L.  Vallandingham  of  Ohio,  a  very 
bitter  rebel  during  the  war;  a  man  of  great  ability,  and  who 
was  a  member  of  Congress.  He  spent  his  time  lighting  and 
opposing  the  administration  with  great  bitterness — so  much 
so  that  he  was  arrested  by  General  Burnside  and  tried  for 
treason.  Tie  was  convicted  and  sentenced  to  imprisonment 
during  the  war,  I  think  at  Fort  Lafayette  or  some  other 
national  prison,  and  President  Lincoln,  notwithstanding  the 
bitterness  shown  toward  him  and  the  attacks  made  upon  him, 
commuted  the  sentence  and  ordered  him  sent  through  the  lines 
to  the  South.  Vallandingham  went  through  the  lines,  but  he- 
did  not  think  the  South  treated  him  with  proper  consideration 
and  he  left  there  and  went  to  Canada.  He  remained  there  until 
the  war  was  over,  then  he  came  back  to  Ohio  and  ran  for  Gov 
ernor  and  was  defeated  by  over  100,000  majority.  He  then 
became,  to  the  astonishment  of  everyone,  a  great  advocate  of 
universal  suffrage  for  the  negro.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that 
Vallandingham  met  death  by  a  pistol  shot,  the  same  as  Presi 
dent  Lincoln.  He  was  trying  a  case  in  the  courts  of  Ohio — a 
case  of  murder — and  while  he  was  showing  the  pistol  used  by 
the  murderer  he  let  it  fall,  and  in  falling  it  was  discharged, 
wounding  him.  and  he  died  from  the  wound. 


L  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LINCOLN.  13 


In  1860  when  President  Lincoln  was  a  candidate  of  the 
Kepublican  party,  Mr.  N.  B.  Judd  of  Chicago  wrote  me  a  letter 
and  requested  me  to  come  to  Chicago  and  aid  as  far  as  I 
could  in  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  I  went  to  Chicago 
and  was  greatly  surprised  when  I  got  to  the  convention  and 
found  that  there  were  only  two  votes  for  Abraham  Lincoln  in 
the  Iowa  delegation,  the  rest  being  scattered  to  Seward, 
McLane,  and  others.  1  thought  the  state  next  to  Illinois 
should  cast  their  entire  vote  for  a  man  of  Lincoln's  ability  and 
standing,  and  I  did  what  I  could  to  turn  them  to  Lincoln.  I 
was  present  at  the  conference  the  evening  before  the  last  day 
of  balloting,  when  the  Pennsylvania  delegation  led  in  an  agree 
ment  with  other  states  to  cast  their 'votes  on  the  next  day  for 
Lincoln,  and,  that  would  insure  his  nomination.  I  was  anxious 
that  the  Iowa  delegation  should  vote  for  him,  which  they  all 
did  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two.  After  his  nomination 
and  election,  I  went  to  Washington  to  the  inauguration.  I 
remember  there  was  with  me,  Kasson,  Allison,  Gurley,  David, 
Hoxie,  and  others,  representing  Iowa.  We  hired  a  house  in  the 
n-ai-  of  the  National  Hotel,  which  we  made  our  headquarters, 
and  which  became  the  headquarters  for  the  state  of  Iowa.  We 
all  attended  the  inauguration  and  listened  to  Lincoln's  inaug 
ural  speech.  It  impressed  not  only  us  but  everyone  who  at 
tended.  When  it  was  over  we  returned  to  the  National  Hotel. 
Judge  Denio  of  Springfield,  a  very  tall  man — I  should  say  six 
feet  four  inches — was  very  enthusiastic  in  praise  of  Lincoln 
and  they  induced  him  to  make  a  speech.  He  got  up  on  a  table 
and  in  describing  the  speech  he  said:  "There  has  only  one 
address  ever  been  made  better  than  that  of  Lincoln  and  that 
was  Christ's  sermon  on  the  Mount." 

During  the  time  we  were  in  Washington,  there  was  great 
alarm  and  a  great  deal  of  discussion  as  to  what  the  policy  of 
the  Government  would  be,  what  part  Lincoln  would  take  in  it, 
and  what  his  acts  would  be.  I  visited  Lincoln  with  ex-Senator 


.14    PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIQNS  OF  LINCOLN. 

Nye  and  Mr.  Davis  of  New  York  and  we  had  a  long  conversa 
tion  with  him  in  relation  to  the  conditions,  what  should  be 
done,  and  giving  him  our  opinions.  He  listened  very  atten 
tively  to  what  we  had  to  say,  and  by  referring  to  my  diary  1 
see  that  he  replied  that  he  was  not  alarmed ;  that  he  felt  that 
he  could  take  this  country  safely  through  the  crisis.  When 
we  left  we  were  greatly  strengthened  in  our  belief  in  his 
ability,  and  felt  he  would  carry  the  country  through,  no  matter 
what  occurred. 

In  the  spring  of  1863  1  was  in  command  of  the  district  of 
Corinth,  Mississippi.  I  had  just  returned  from  the  campaign 
to  the  rear  of  Bragg  up  the  Tennessee  Valley.  There  had  fol 
lowed  rne  back  to  Corinth  thousands  of  negroes  which  were  a 
great  burden  to  us.  AW  had  to  feed  them,  and  as  yet  there 
had  been  no  policy  determined  by  the  Government  as  to  how 
they  should  be  treated  or  what  should  be  done  with  them.  I 
had  them  on  my  hands  and  made  a  camp  outside  of  Corinth  for 
them.  I  put  at  the  head  of  it  the  Chaplain  of  the  27th  Ohio 
Infantry,  named  Alexander,  and  endeavored  to  utilize  the 
negroes  by  putting  them  on  plantations  to  work,  so  as  to  par 
tially  earn  their  living,  and  using  them  as  teamsters  and  in 
camp  work.  I  first  put  over  them  a  guard  of  white  soldiers, 
but  the  troops  at  that  time  objected  very  seriously  to  guarding 
negroes  and  there  was  a  great  deal  of  trouble  in  relation  to  it. 
Finally  Chaplain  Alexander  came  to  me  and  said  he  believe*  1. 
if  1  would  let  him  have  the  arms,  he  could  organize  two  negro 
companies  that  would  guard  that  camp  much  better  than  the 
white  soldiers.  I  agreed  to  do  this  and,  although  I  had  abso 
lutely  no  authority  for  doing  so,  I  gave  him  the  arms  and  he 
organized  two  companies  of  negroes,  officering  them  with  some 
sergeants  from  my  command.  That  action  caused  a  great  deal 
of  criticism  but  it  worked  admirably.  Soon  after  I  had  armed 
these  negroes,  I  received  an  order  from  General  Grant  to  go 
to  Washington  and  to  report  to  the  Adjutant  General.  He 


^ PERSONAL  .RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LINCOLN.  15 

gave  no  reasons  for  my  going  there.  I  could  not  but  think 
that  they  were  going  to  call  me  to  account  for  the  action  J 
had  taken  in  arming  the  negroes,  and  I  went  with  a  good  deal 
of  anxiety  until  I  reached  Washington  and  reported  to  the 
Adjutant  General,  and  he  informed  me  that  the  President 
wished  to  see  me  and  he  made  an  appointment  with  President 
Lincoln  for  me.  I  went  in  and  met  the  President,  who  greeted 
me  very  cordially,  and  learned  from  him  that  I  had  been  called 
there  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  him  in  determining  the  loca 
tion  on  the  Missouri  River  where  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
should  have  its  initial  point,  When  I  heard  this  it  was  a  great 
relief  to  me.  I  sat  there  with  him  and  we  discussed  that  ques 
tion  very  fully,  and  I  saw  he  was  thoroughly  posted  on  the 
sentiment  of  the  country  locally,  as  every  town  from  Sioux 
City  to  Kansas  City  was  contending  for  the  location.  The 
people  interested  at  that  time  remember  what  a  discussion 
there  was  in  regard  to  where  the  initial  point  of  the  Union 
Pacific  should  be  located.  From  an  engineering  point  of  view, 
I  pointed  out  clearly  to  the  President  where  the  line  should 
start  and  what  our  surveys  had  determined.  He  listened  and 
discussed  this  question  with  me  for  a  long  time.  I  saw  from 
his  talk  and  his  indication  that  his  views  coincided  with  mine, 
and  I  have  no  doubt  he  made  his  decision  at  that  time,  as  rec 
ommended  by  me,  and  soon  after  made  this  order: 

I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  do 
hereby  fix  so  much  of  the  western  boundry  of  the  State  of 
Iowa  as  lies  between  the  north  and  south  boundaries  of  tho 
United  States  township  within  which  the  city  of  Omaha  is 
situated  as  the  point  from  which  the  line  of  railroad  and  tele 
graph  in  that  section  mentioned  shall  be  constructed. 

This  order  was  not  considered  definite  enough  by  the  com 
pany  and  on  March  7,  1864,  President  Lincoln  issued  the 
second  executive  order  as  follows : 

I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  do, 
upon  the  application  of  said  company,  designate  and  establish 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LINCOLN. 


such  first  named  point  on  the  western  boundary  of  the  State 
of  Iowa,  east  of  and  opposite  to  the  east  line  of  Section  10, 
in  Township  15,  south  of  Range  13,  east  of  the  sixth  princi 
pal  meridian  in  the  Territory  of  Nebraska. 

On  March  8,  1864,  he  notified  the  United  States  Senate  that 
on  the  17th  day  of  November,  1863,  he  had  located  the  il East 
ern  terminus  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway  within  the  limits 
of  the  township  in  Iowa  opposite  to  the  town  of  Omaha." 
Since  then,  he  says,  "the  company  has  represented  to  me  that 
upon  additional  survey  made,  it  has  determined  upon  the  pre 
cise  point  of  departure  of  the  branch  road  from  the  Missouri 
River,  and  located  same  within  the  limits  designated  in  the 
order  of  November  last."  This  point  is  near  where  the  Union 
Pacific  Transfer  now  stands. 

After  my  talk  with  Lincoln  in  relation  to  the  fixing  of  the 
terminal,  naturally  the  question  of  the  building  of  the  Union 
Pacific  came  up.  The  law  of  1862  had  been  passed  but  the 
promoters  of  the  road  had  been  unable  to  raise  a  single  dollar 
to  build  it;  they  could  not  induce  the  capitalists  to  take  hold 
of  it,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  United  States  had 
loaned  its  credit — it  having  the  first  lien  on  the  property  while 
the  company's  bonds  were  only  second  mortgage  bonds.  There 
was  no  one  in  the  United  States  then  who  had  enough  confi 
dence  in  the  future  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  to  buy  sec 
ond  mortgage  bonds  at  any  price.  I  discussed  that  question 
with  him.  I  thought  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
should  build  this  road;  it  was  too  big  a  job  for  private  enter 
prise.  He  said  the  Government  of  the  United  States  had  all 
it  could  care  for  then,  but  that  he  and  the  Government  were 
willing  to  do  anything  they  could  to  aid  any  company  who 
would  take  this  matter  up  in  earnest  and  raise  the  money  and 
go  forward  with  the  work.  He  intimated  that  he  was  perfectly 
willing  to  have  the  law  changed  so  that  the  Government  should 
take  the  second  mortgage  and  the  promoters  of  the  road  should 
take  the  first.  From  my  visit  with  President  Lincoln.  I  went 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LINCOLN.  17 

to  New  York  to  see  my  friends  who  had  organized  the  Union 
Pacific  road,  Mr.  John  A.  Dix,  Mr.  Henry  Farnani,  T.  C.  Dur- 
ant,  Francis  Train,  and  others,  and  I  told  them  in  a  board 
meeting  what  President  Lincoln  had  said  and  they  were  greatly 
encouraged,  and  made  up  their  minds  to  take  the  matter  up, 
and  they  went  before  Congress  and  in  1864  they  passed  the 
law  which  placed  the  mortgage  bonds  of  the  company  ahead 
of  the  mortgage  bonds  of  the  Government,  and  with  the  Gov 
ernment's  and  other  mortgage  bonds  they  were  enabled  to 
start  the  road,  and  by  1865  they  had  built  the  road  as  far  west 
as  Fremont.  When  I  came  back  from  the  army  in  1866  I  took 
charge,  and  in  three  years  it  was  finished.  It  was  the  fore 
sight,  the  nerve  and  determination  of  Abraham  Lincoln  that 
forced  Congress  to  give  the  promoters  of  that  road  the  first 
mortgage  bonds  and  the  Government  taking  a  second  lien 
that  insured  its  completion.  In  discussing  this  matter  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  said  it  was  not  only  a  commercial  necessity  but  a 
military  necessity  for  the  purpose  of  holding  the  Pacific  coast 
in  the  Union. 

I  did  not  see  Mr.  Lincoln  again  until  in  October,  1864.  I  was 
given  confederate  leave  of  absence  at  Atlanta  in  August,  1864. 
As  soon  as  I  was  well  enough  to  travel  General  Grant  invited 
me  to  visit  him  at  City  Point,  where  his  army  was  lying  after 
the  great  campaign  of  the  Wilderness  and  the  Potomac.  I  went 
to  City  Point  and  spent  two  weeks  with  General  Grant.  I  saw 
there  the  finest  of  all  our  armies,  the  best  equipped,  the  best 
organized,  and  it  had  everything  that  a  soldier  could  need. 
Rufus  Ingles  took  us  up  to  their  sample  room,  showing  me  the 
supplies  they  had  ready  to  furnish  the  soldiers.  General 
Grant  said,  "Dodge,  if  you  just  had  this, sample  room  it  would 
be  all  you  would  want  for  your  Corps."  I  met  most  of  the 
officers  of  his  army.  I  visited  the  Army  of  the  James,  and  I 
saw  the  efforts  of  General  Butler,  who  commanded  that 
Army,  to  break  through  the  enemies'  line  into  Richmond. 


18  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LINCOLN. 

1  was  greatly  impressed  as  1  saw  the  troops  move  up  to 
the  enemies'  works  and  stand  so  steadily  and  receive  the 
destructive  fire  of  the  enemy  without  taking  cover.  In  the 
West,  under  the  same  conditions,  our  men  would  have  gone 
to  cover  when  they  saAv  there  was  no  possibility  of  carrying 
the  works  before  them,  but  here  they  seemed  to  wait  for  an 
order,  and  my  anxiety  for  them  was  such  that  I  could  not  help 
expressing  my  surprise  that  they  did  not  either  charge  or  go 
to  cover,  but  they  stood  and  took  the  murderous  fire  until  the 
command  to  retire  was  given.  In  the  West,  during  the  time 
they  stood  there,  our  whole  line  would  have  found  shelter  be 
hind  trees  or  buried  themselves  in  rifle  pits. 

In  the  evening,  we  would  sit  around  the  camp  fire  at  City 
Point,  and  General  Grant,  in  that  comprehensive  and  conversa 
tional  way  he  had  of  describing  any  affair  when  he  felt  at 
liberty  to  talk  freely,  and  which  is  shown  so  plainly  in  his 
Memoirs,  told  me  of  his  campaigns  from  the  Wilderness  to  City 
Point;  of  many  of  his  plans  that  failed  to  materialize  for 
various  reasons  which  he  gave.  After  listening  several  even 
ings  to  the  discussion  of  these  matters,  I  asked  General  Grant, 
very  innocently  and  naturally,  who  was  responsible  for  the 
failure  of  these  plans,  and  looking  at  me  in  a  humorous  way. 
which  was  in  his  disposition,  he  said,  "That,  General,  has  not 
yet  been  determined."  I  said,  "If  it  had  been  in  the  West, 
some  of  us  would  have  lost  our  heads."  General  Grant  was 
never  known  to  publicly  make  a  criticism  of  an  officer. 

I  want  to  say  that  these  were  the  darkest  days  of  Grant's 
career  in  the  East,  for  the  country  had  commenced  to  talk 
about  his  campaign  as  not  being  a  success,  his  great  battles 
as  butcheries,  and  there  was  a  great  deal  of  criticism  of  them. 
There  was  about  as  many  men  deserting  from  that  army — 
drafted  men — as  there  were  recruits  coming  to  him,  but  Gen 
eral  Grant  was  certain  that  his  next  campaign  would  be  a 
success. 


PEKSOXAL   RKCOLI.KC  TIONS  OF   LLXCOIA.  10 

When  I  was  starting  back  to  my  command,  General  Grant 
requested  me  to  call  on  President  Lincoln.  He  did  not  give 
me  any  reason  why  I  should  go,  but,  of  course,  a  request  from 
him  was  an  order,  and  I  went  to  Washington  on  his  steamer. 
There  was  on  board  this  steamer.  General  Rufus  Ingalls,  the 
Quartermaster  of  his  Army,  and  Major-General  Boyle,  Com 
mander  of  the  'British  forces  in  Canada.  Major-General  Boyle 
was  an  old,  gray-haired  man.  T  was  a  young  man  and  the  one 
thing  that  troubled  the  General  was  that  he  could  not  under 
stand  why  I,  so  young,  could  have  the  same  rank  as  he  did— 
an  old  man  sixty  years  of  age. 

When  I  arrived  at  Washington  and  went  to  the  White 
House  to  call  on  President  Lincoln,  I  met  Senator  Harlan  of 
my  state  in  the  ante-room  and  he  took  me  in  to  see  the  Presi 
dent.  It  happened  to  be  at  the  hour  when  the  President  was 
receiving  1he  crowd  in  the  ante-room  uext  to  his  room.  Sen 
ator  Harlan  took  me  up  to  him  immediately  and  presented  me 
to  him.  President  Lincoln  received  me  cordially  and  said  he 
was  very  glad  to  see  me.  He  asked  me  to  sit  down  while  he  dis 
posed  of  the  crowd.  I  sat  down  and  waited ;  I  saw  him  take 
each  person  by  the  hand  and  in  his  kindly  way  dispose  of  them. 
To  an  outsider,  it  would  seem  that  they  all  got  what  they  want 
ed,  for  they  seemed  to  go  away  happy.  T  sat  there  for  some 
time,  and  felt  that  I  was  over-staying  my  time  with  him.  so 
steprped  up  and  said  that  I  had  merely  called  to  pay  my  respects 
and  that  I  had  no  business,  so  would  say  goodbye.  President 
Lincoln  turned  to  me  and  said,  "If  you  have  the  time,  I  wish 
you  would  wait;  T  want  to  talk  with  you."  1  sat  down  again 
and  waited  quietly  until  he  had  disposed  of  the  crowd.  When 
he  was  through,  he  took  me  into  the  next  room.  II«-  saw  that  I 
was  ill-at-ease,  so  he  took  down  from  his  desk  a  little  book 
called  "The  Gospel  of  Peace."  T  think  it  was  written  by 
Artemus  Ward  and  was  very  humorous.  He  opened  the  book. 
crossed  his  legs,  and  began  to  read  a  portion  of  a  chapter, 


20  PERSONAL  il ^COLLECTIONS  OF  LINCOLN: 

which  was  so  humorous  that  J  began  to  laugh,  and  it  brought 
me  to  myself.  When  he  saw  that  he  had  gotten  me  in  his 
power,  he  laid  the  book  down  and  began  to  talk  to  me  about 
my  visit  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  what  I  saw.  He  did 
not  say  a  single  word  about  my  own  command  or  about  the 
West,  showing  his  whole  interest  was  in  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac.  While  we  were  sitting  there  talking  we  were  called 
to  lunch.  During  the  meal  he  talked  about  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  and  abcut  Grant,  and  finally  led  up  to  the  place  where 
he  asked  me  the  question  of  what  I  thought  about  Grant,  and 
what  1  thought  about  his  next  campaign.  Just  as  he  asked  the 
question,  we  got  up  from  the  table.  I  answered,  ''Mr.  Presi 
dent,  you  know  we  western  men  have  the  greatest  confidence 
in  General  Grant;  I  have  no  doubt,  whatever,  that  in  this  next 
campaign  he  will  defeat  Lee — how,  or  when  he  is  to  do  it,  1 
cannot  tell,  but  I  am  sure  of  it."  He  took  my  hand  in  both  of 
his  and  very  solemnly  said,  ''You  don't  know  how  glad  I  am 
to  hear  you  say  that."  I  did  not  appreciate  then  what  a  great 
strain  he  was  under — not  until  reading  Welles'  Celebrated 
Diary,  showing  that  Lincoln  had  no  person  around  him  to 
advise  him;  that  everything  he  did  was  from  his  own  thoughts 
aud  decision.  It  is  a  wonder  to  me  that  he  ever  got  through 
the  war  so  successfully.  I  did  not  know  then  that  Lincoln's 
table  was  piled  with  letters  demanding  the  change  of  Grant. 
declaring  that  his  campaign  was  a  failure  and  wanting  to  have 
a  different  commander  sent,  etc.  When  I  was  ready  to  leave, 
I  thanked  President  Lincoln  for  what  he  had  done  for  me  and 
asked  if  there  was  anything  I  could  do  for  him.  He  said,  "If 
you  don't  care,  I  would  like  to  have  you  take  my  respects  to 
your  Army." 

On  leaving  President  Lincoln,  I  returned  to  my  own  com 
mand,  or  as  near  to  it  as  1  could  get,  expecting  to  go  to  the 
command  of  my  Corps  under  Sherman.  I  was  still  physically 
not  very  strong,  and  Sherman  said  that  he  would  not.  take  me 


NAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LINCOLN. 


with  him  as  he  did  not  think  I  could  stand  the  trip.  Therefore, 
I  was  assigned  to  a  command  at  Vieksburg.  Mississippi,  with 
a  view  of  taking  a  command  to  the  rear  of  Mobile  when  Sher 
man  marched  to  the  sea,  expecting,  with  the  aid  of  ("fen  era  1 
Canby  and  the  fleet  to  capture  that  place.  When  f  readied 
Cairo  on  my  way  to  Vicksburg,  I  received  a  dispatch  from  the 
War  Department  to  proceed  immediately  to  St.  Louis.  Soon 
after  my  arrival.!  received  an  order  to  relieve  General  Rose- 
crans,  and  as  soon  as  I  was  in  command  to  notify  the  Wai- 
Department.  I  learned  from  a  private  dispatch  that  1 
received  from  General  Grant  that  he  had  requested  Gen 
eral  Rosecrans  to  be  relieved  and  I  to  take  his  com 
mand,  because  lie  and  the  War  Department  did  not  consider 
that  General  Rosecrans  had  made  a  proper  use  of  his  command 
in  defeating  the  movement  of  Price  into  Missouri,  as  Price  had 
a  force  much  smaller  than  that  of  General  Rosecrans.  I  as 
sumed  command  of  that  Department  and  Army  on  the  second 
day  of  December.  1  found  that  there  had  been  a  great  many 
dispatches  sent  to  General  Rosecrans  to  send  all  the  troops  he 
could  spare  to  General  Thomas,  who  was  in  a  death  struggle 
with  General  Flood  in  Nashville.  I  received  a  similar  dispatch 
from  General  Halleck,  at  the  end  of  which  he  quoted  a  part  of 
Grant's  dispatch  to  him  giving  the  order,  which  was:  "With 
such  an  order,  Dodge  can  be  relied  upon  to  send  all  that  can 
properly  go."  T  learned  afterwards  that  President  Lincoln 
was  present  when  this  order  was  given,  and  that  it  was  he  who 
suggested  to  General  Halleck  that  that  portion  of  Grant's 
dispatch  should  be  added,  saying,  it  might  induce  Doduv  to 
make  an  extra  effort  to  help  Thomas  out. 

When  I  received  this  dispatch,  I  looked  my  command  over. 
There  were  no  organized  Rebel  forces  in  Missouri,  nothing  but 
guerrillas  and  partisan  bands  who  were  robbing  and  killing. 
not  fighting  anyone,  and  T  made  up  my  mind  that  there  was 
really  no  necessity  for  any  federal  troops  in  Missouri:  there- 


PEKSOXAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LINCOLN. 


fore,  I  gathered  together  every  organized  regiment  in  that 
state  and  sent  Thomas  some  fifteen  thousand  men,  including 
two  Divisions  of  the  16th  Corps,  under  the  command  of  Major- 
General  A.  J.  Smith.  At  the  Battle  of  Nashville,  this  force 
turned  Hood's  left  and  started  the  defeat  and  destruction  of 
Hood's  Army. 

I  found  in  Missouri  a  state  of  affairs  existing  in  no  other 
state  in  the  Union.  It  was  one-half  Rebel  and  one-half  Union. 
It  was  brother  against  brother  and  father  against  son.  There 
had  been  a  great  many  murders  in  the  state  and  they  were  con 
tinually  being  committed.  President  Lincoln  took  a  great  in 
terest  in  Missouri.  The  fact  that  Blair,  Lyons,  Siegle  and  the 
Germans  had  held  the  State  of  Missouri  in  the  Union  against 
all  the  efforts  of  its  Rebel  Government,  made  it  very  interest 
ing  to  him,  and  lie  had  been  endeavoring  for  a  long  time  to 
bring  it  back  under  its  own  civil  government.  He  assigned 
General  Schofield,  a  very  fine  soldier  and  executive  officer,  to 
the  command  of  the  department,  with  a  view  of  his  carrying 
out  this  policy,  but  he  had  failed.  General  Schofield  's  policy 
did  not  satisfy  either  side,  it  was  too  conservative  for  the  radi 
cals  and  too  radical  for  the  half  -Union  men  ;  therefore  the  'War- 
Department  relieved  him.  But  President  Lincoln  believed  in 
General  Schofield  and  when  he  left  there  he  made  him  a  Major- 
General,  but  the  State  of  Missouri  was  strong  enough  to  stop 
his  confirmation  in  the  United  States  Senate  and  it  was  one 
year  before  he  was  confirmed.  President  Lincoln  said  he  saw 
his  opportunity  when  he  received  a  dispatch  from  General 
Grant  in  1864,  asking  to  have  General  Schofield  sent  to  1h<> 
command  of  the  Department  of  the  Ohio  at  Knoxville,  Tennes 
see,  and  he  said  he  then  put  the  pressure  right  on  the  Senate 
and  they  had  to  come  to  time  and  confirm  him. 

As  soon  as  I  had  gotten  well  settled  in  the  Department  of 
the  Missouri,  President  Lincoln  wrote  me  a  long  letter.  It  was 
in  no  wise  an  order  or  a  suggestion  that  1  was  obliged  to  carry 


PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  OF  LINCOLN. 

out.  It  was  simply  his  views  of  the  conditions  in  the  country : 
also  what  he  thought,  not  what  he  thought  I  ought  to  do,  and 
as  I  looked  the  country  over  I  came  to  his  views — that  there 
was  absolutely  no  necessity  for  any  military  forces  in  the 
State  of  Missouri.  That  state  had  just  elected  Colonel  Fletcher 
Governor.  Colonel  Fletcher  had  been  a  good  soldier  in  the 
service  and  I  made  up  my  mind  that  if  it  was  in  my  power  I 
would  turn  over  the  Civil  Government  entirely  to  him,  but  as 
soon  as  my  policy  was  known,  both  sides  were  opposed  to  it : 
one  side  because  they  were  afraid  of  the  guerrillas,  and  the 
other  side  because  they  did  not  want  to  go  under  a  Union 
soldier  as  a  Governor.  I  was  in  a  great  dilemma,  and  wrote 
the  War  Department  that  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  give  it 
a  trial,  and  sent  to  General  Halleck  at  Washington  my  plan- 
that  was,  to  withdraw  all  the  federal  troops  from  the  small 
towns  and  railroad  lines  and  relieve  them  from  all  civil  duties 
and  concentrate  them  at  the  prominent  strategic  point  in  the 
state  where  I  could  handle  them  as  a  body,  and  call  on  the  citi 
zens  of  the  counties  to  take  care  of  themselves.  I  did  not  get 
a  very  hearty  response  from  General  Halleck.  His  response 
was  something  like  this  :  "If  you  do  this  and  succeed,  all  right : 
but  if  you  do  this  and  fail,  you  must  not  charge  any  of  it  up 
to  us." 

Before  doing  this,  President  Lincoln  thought  I  should  con 
sult  and  get  the  consent  of  the  Governor  of  the  state;  this,  I 
had  expected  to  do.  I  had  to  struggle  Avith  the  Governor  quite 
a  long  time  but  he  finally  consented.  He  did  not  feel  like  as 
suming  the  responsibility  of  enforcing  the  law  without  a  large 
military  force  behind  him.  There  were  some  eight  or  ten 
thousand  State  Militia  that  had  been  mustered  into  the  United 
States  Army  for  service  in  the  state,  and  I  proposed  that  this 
force  should  be  used  by  the  Governor  to  do  the  work  which  the 
federal  troops  had  been  performing. 

I  issued  an   order  that  citizens   of  the  state,    of  southern 


24:  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LINCOLN. 

sentiment,  must  hereafter  comply  with  the  Civil  Authorities, 
and  those  who  could  not  or  would  not  would  be  forced  to  leave 
the  state.  I  gave  them  permission  to  go  through  the  lines  south 
or  north.  This  order  also  provided  that  any  citizens  of  the  state 
who  harbored  a  guerrilla,  or  wher.e  any  of  the  bands  of  guer 
rillas  camped  upon  their  land,  or  where  they  had  any  knowl 
edge  of  any  being  present,  must,  within  twenty-four  hours, 
notify  the  nearest  federal  post.  If  they  did  not,  they  would 
be  arrested  and  shot.  This  was  a  very  drastic  order  and  was 
complained  of  bitterly  by  the  citizens  of  southern  sentiment. 
A  few  days  after  the  order  was  issued,  a  Lieutenant  of  one  of 
the  companies,  discovered  a  citizen  harboring  some  guerrillas 
and  lie  took  him  out  and  shot  him.  This,  of  course,  he  had  no 
authority  to  do.  He  should  have  arrested  the  man  and  re 
ported  the  fact  to  the  commanding  officer  and  given  him  a 
trial,  but  the  fact  of  the  prompt  execution  of  the  order  struck 
terror  throughout  the  state,  especially  to  those  of  southern 
sentiment,  and  they  felt  that  their  lives  were  not  safe,  and 
thousands  of  them  emigrated  immediately  to  Idaho  and  Mon 
tana,  while  others  who  remained  entered  protests  to  the  War 
Department,  and  there  was  a  general  complaint  and  denuncia 
tion  of  the  order.  I  was  called  upon  immediately  by  the  War 
Department  for  an  explanation  of  this  officer's  acts.  Before  I 
had  gotten  the  order,  however,  I  had  investigated  the  case  and 
found  that  the  party  he  had  killed  was  without  question 
guilty,  and  I  wrote  the  War  Department  that,  while  it  was  a 
lack  of  judgment  on  the  part  of  the  officer — he  thought  he 
had  the  right  to  kill  the  man  immediately — still,  it  had  been 
of  great  benefit  in  bringing  peace  to  the  state,  and  I  felt  that 
it  was  not  necessary  to  take  any  further  action  in  the  matter 
and  asvsured  them  that  it  would  not  be  repeated.  It  was  won 
derful  how  quickly  the  state  quieted  down  and  how  many  re 
ports  went  into  the  different  posts  of  guerrillas  or  partisan 
bands,  or  even  people  suspected,  so  that  as  soon  as  they  found 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LINCOLN.  25 

that  they  did  not  have  the  support  of  the  southern  sympathiz 
ers  and  could  not  quarter  upon  them  without  being  reported, 
they  immediately  left  the  state. 

These  complaints,  of  course,  finally  reached  President  Lin 
coln,  but  it  was  a  long  time  after  they  occurred,  in  the  mean 
time  Governor  Fletcher,  who  was  taking  great  satisfaction  in 
the  rapidity  with  which  the  state  had  been  brought  under 
Civil  Government,  had  written  a  letter  to  President  Lincoln 
stating  that  the  order  had  had  a  wonderful  effect,  and  that 
the  state  was  then  as  quiet  as  any  other  state  in  the  Union. 
Some  of  the  members  of  Congress  from  Missouri  called  on 
President  Lincoln,  quite  a  long  time  after  this  occurred,  and 
still  demanded  a  repeal  of  the  order,  but  President  Lincoln 
showed  them  Governor  Fletcher's  letter  and  he  said  that, 
under  the  conditions,  he  would  not  interfere  in  the  matter. 

Years  afterwards  when  I  went  West,  to  the  station  oppo 
site  Boise  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  where  they  were  in 
vestigating  the  question  of  putting  in  some  irrigation  works, 
and  while  my  car  was  standing  on  the  siding,  one  day  there 
came  up  from  the  Boise  Valley  a  delegation  of  citizens,  who 
loaded  my  car  with  fruit.  I  was  absent  and  did  not  see  them, 
but  they  told  the  station  agent  that  they  were  citizens  whom 
I  had  driven  out  of  Missouri  and  that  at  one  time  they  would 
have  hung  me  if  they  could  have  gotten  hold  of  me.  but  now 
they  were  thankful  for  the  movement,  and  brought  ine  this 
fruit  with  their  compliments. 

Within  sixty  days  I  had  left  the  Department  in  perfect 
peace  and  had  gone  on  to  the  plains  to  make  the  Indian  cam 
paigns. 

While  J  was  in  command  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  there  was 
hardly  a  day  passed  but  what  I  saw  some  evidence  of  Presi 
dent  Lincoln's  kindness.  The  appeals  that  would  go  to  him 
from  the  people  whose  sons  or  themselves  were  in  trouble, 
would  always  have  his  attention  and  he  would  give  them  one 


26  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  or  LIXCOLX. 

of  his  cards,  with  a  little  note  written  on  the  back  to  me,  ask 
ing  if  something  could  not  be  done  for  this  person.  He  dis 
liked  to  have  anyone  executed,  shot  or  imprisoned.  When  1 
went  into  Missouri,  I  found  the  prisons  full  and  over-flowing 
with  prisoners  of  war  and  citizens  who  had  been  taken  up  for 
treason,  etc.  T  therefore  proposed  to  send  them  through  the 
line  or  to  release  them,  and  I  so  notified  the  War  Department. 
In  my  letter  to  them  I  said  it  was  a  good  deal  easier  to  fight 
them  than  to  feed  them,  but  they  seemed  to  think  that  the 
policy  that  had  been  maintained  there  of  holding  these  citi 
zens  in  prison  should  be  continued.  When  the  Indian  cam 
paigns  began,  some  of  these  prisoners  made  known  to  me  that 
they  were  willing  to  enlist  in  the  army  to  go  on  the  plains.  1 
reported  this  to  the  War  Department  and  received  authority 
to  organize  five  regiments  knowrn  as  the  United  States  Volun 
teers,  known  on  the  plains  as  the  "Reconstructed  Rebs."  This 
emptied  the  prisons.  Nearly  all  of  the  confederate  prisoners 
of  war  were  willing  to  enlist  to  fight  Indians  and  only  took 
the  oath  for  that  purpose,  declining  to  take  it  to  fight  against 
their  own  people  and  we  did  not  require  it  of  them.  These 
regiments  served  up  the  Missouri  River,  in  Minnesota  against 
the  Indians  there,  and  were  in  my  campaigns  on  the  plains  in 
1865  and  1866.  They  made  splendid  soldiers  and  endured 
great  hardships.  Afterwards  a  great  many  of  them  went  down 
on  the  Union  Pacific  and  into  the  States  of  Idaho  and  Mon 
tana,  where  there  are  now  a  great  many  of  the  members  of 
those  regiments,  many  of  whom  are  prominent  citizens. 

The  day  before  the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln.  M 
lady  called  upon  me  who  had  been  to  Washington  to  see  Pres 
ident  Lincoln.  Her  son  had  been  arrested  and  tried  for  mur 
der  as  a  guerrilla.  He  had  been  in  one  of  the  guerrilla  bands 
which  had  been  caught,  and  it  was  proved  that  he  had  mur 
dered  two  or  three  convalescent  Union  soldiers.  He  was  sen 
tenced  to  be  hung  in  a  very  short  time.  This  lady  obtained 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OK  LINCOLX.  27 

an  interview  with  President  Lincoln  and,  the  night  before  the 
day  of  the  assassination,  she  came  to  my  office  with  the  Pres 
ident's  card,  with  a  little  note  on  the  back  of  it  to  me,  which 
read,  "My  Dear  General  Dodge:  Is  it  possible  for  you  to  do 
anything  for  this  poor  woman  who  is  in  so  much  trouble?"  I 
took  the  card,  but  I  did  not  see  my  way  clear  to  comply  with 
her  request.  If  I  had  commuted  the  sentence  of  that  guerrilla, 
after  the  great  number  of  men  who  had  been  murdered  b> 
these  guerrillas,  it  would  have  brought  down  upon  me  a  great 
criticism  from  the  Union  people  in  the  State.  But  I  treated 
the  lady  nicely  and  told  her  that  I  would  consider  it.  She 
thought  that  card  was  an  absolute  pardon  for  her  son,  and  was 
very  indignant,  and  said  she  would  communicate  with  th<j 
President  immediately. 

That  night  about  midnight  I  received  a  dispatch  from  the 
War  Department  notifying  me  of  Lincoln  being  shot.  I  was 
also  cautioned  about  making  arrangements  so  that  there  would 
be  no  uprising  in  the  State.  They  felt  that  such  a  tragedy 
might  cause  an  uprising  of  the  Union  men  against  the  citizens 
of  southern  sentiments  on  account  of  the  bitterness  existing 
there.  I  brought  into  the  city  of  St.  Louis  such  troops  as 
were  near,  and  issued  an  order  suspending  all  business  and 
ordered  all  the  citizens,  both  Federal  and  Rebel,  to  remain  in 
their  houses  and  prohibited  any  gatherings  or  crowds  on  the 
streets.  I  found  that  the  southern  people  were  as  greatly  dis 
tressed  as  those  of  the  North.  The  streets  of  St.  Louis  were 
deserted  for  two  days  and  there  was  nothing1  but  sorrow  ex 
hibited  on  both  sides. 

The  lady  called  the  next  day  and  asked  me  for  the  card. 
she  desiring  to  keep  it  as  a  memento,  and  no  doubt  giving  up 
all  hopes  for  her  son,  but  I  did  not  have  it  in  my  heart,  after 
Lincoln's  death,  to  carry  out  the  order  of  the  court  and  there 
fore  commuted  the  sentence  to  imprisonment. 

At  the  time  of  Lincoln's  funeral  I  was   ordered  to   e^o  to 


58  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LINCOLN. 


Springfield  with  my  staff  and  troops.  I  went  to  Springfield  on 
the  day  of  the  funeral  and  took  my  position  in  the  procession. 
It  was  the  saddest  sight  of  my  life.  Those  streets  were  lined 
with  thousands  and  thousands  of  people,  evidently  in  great  dis 
tress  and  sorrow,  and  at  every  step  we  could  hear  the  sobs  of 
the  sorrowing  crowd  and  every  little  while  a  negro  would  como 
out  and  drop  down  on  his  knees  and  offer  a  prayer.  There  was 
hardly  a  person  who  was  not  in  tears,  and  when  T  looked 
around  at  my  troops  I  saw  many  of  them  in  tears.  As  we  paid 
the  last  rites  to  this  great  man  the  sorrow  was  universal,  for 
it  was  one  of  the  greatest  calamities  of  this  or  any  other  na 
tion. 

Among  all  the  public  men  in  the  funeral  procession,  no 
grief  was  keener  than  that  of  his  War  Secretary,  Edwin  M. 
Stanton.  None  of  them  had  tested,  as  had  Edwin  M.  Stanton, 
the  extraordinary  resources  of  his  strong  Chief.  It  was  fitting, 
therefore,  that  he.  as  passed  the  strong  heroic  soul  away, 
should  pronounce  its  eulogy:  ''There  lies  the  most  perfect 
ruler  of  men  the  world  has  ever  seen.  Why  the  most  per 
fect  ruler  the  world  has  ever  seen?  Because  he  was  the  per 
fect  ruler  of  himself.'' 

The  following  letter,  that  has  never  been  published,  shows 
Lincoln's  ideas  upon  a  subject  that  has  often  been  discussed  : 

Executive  Mansion, 

,„,.  Washington.  Sept.  4,  1864. 

Eliza  P.  Gurney, 

My  Esteemed  Friend: — T  have  not  forgotten — probably 
never  shall  forget — the  very  impressive  occasion  when  yourself 
and  friends  visited  me  on  a  Sabbath  afternoon  two  years  ago. 
Nor  has  your  kind  letter,  written  nearly  a  year  later,  ever  been 
forgotten.  In  all,  it  has  been  your  purpose  to  strengthen  my 
reliances  on  God.  I  am  much  indebted  to  the  good  Christian 
people  of  the  country  for  their  constant  prayers  and  consola 
tions,  and  to  no  one  of  them  more  than  to  yourself.  The  pur 
poses  of  the  Almighty  are  perfect  and  must  prevail,  though  we 
erring  mortals  may  fail  to  accurately  perceive  them  in  advance. 
We  hoped  for  a  happy  termination  of  this  terrible  war  long 


PKKSOXAL   IIKCOLLWTIONS  OF   LINCOLN. 


before  this,  hut  (iod  knows  best  and  has  ruled  otherwise.  We 
shall  acknowledge  His  wisdom,  and  our  own  error  therein. 
Meanwhile  we  must  work  earnestly  in  the  best  light  Pie  gives 
us.  trusting  that  so  working  still  conduces  to  the  great  ends 
He  ordains.  Surely  He  intends  some  great  good  to  follow  this 
mighty  convulsion,  which  no  mortal  could  make  and  no  mortal 
could  stay. 

Your  people — the  Friends — have  had,  and  we  are  having,  a 
very  great  trial.  On  principle  and  faith,  opposed  to  both  war 
and  oppression,  they  can  only  practically  oppose  oppression  by 
war.  In  this  hard  dilemma  some  have  chosen  one  horn  and 
some  the  other.  For  those  appealing  to  me  on  conscientious 
grounds,  I  have  done,  and  shall  do.  the  best  I  could  and  can  in 
my  own  conscience  under  my  oath  to  the  Lord.  That  you 
believe  this  I  doubt  not,  and  believing  it  I  shall  still  receive 
for  our  country  and  myself  your  earnest  prayers  to  our  Father 
in  Heaven. 

Your  Sin-cere  Friend, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

A  more  beautiful  letter  it  would  be  impossible  to  write.   • 

When  the  second  nomination  of  Lincoln  was  about  to  he 
made,  the  people  who  were  dissatisfied  and  disgruntled  at 
what  he  had  done,  many  who  thought  he  was  not  radical 
enough  or  aggressive  enough  in  the  war,  called  a  convention  to 
meet  in  Cleveland  in  May  of  1864. 

The  movement  was  supported  by  men  of  prominence  in  the 
party,  dissatisfied  and  disappointed  with  the  conducting  of 
affairs,  and  their  action  caused  much  anxiety.  This  conven 
tion  nominated  for  President,  John  C.  Fremont,  and  for  Vice- 
President,  John  Cochran,  and  instead  of  there  being  thou 
sands  in  attendance  at  the  convention,  as  was  expected,  there 
were  only  about  400. 

A  friend  of  Mr.  Lincoln  seeing  this,  hastened  to  the  White 
House  to  impart  it.  Lincoln,  thereupon,  reached  for  his  well 
thumbed  Bible  and  opening  it  at  First  Samuel,  22;  2,  read: 

.And  everyone  that  was  in  distress,  and  everyone  that  was 
in  debt,  and  everyone  that  was  discontented,  gathered  them 
selves  unto  him  and  he  became  a  Captain  over  them,  and  there 
were  with  him  about  four  hundred. 


30  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  LINCOLN. 

Even  the  London  Punch,  that  criticised  and  ridiculed  Mr. 
Lincoln  during  his  administration,  changed,  and  after  his 
death,  said  it  was  sorry  and  regretted  its  course,  holding  that 
it  was  a  remarkable  man  who  could  indite  in  a  car  on  a  train, 
while  on  his  trip  to  Gettysburg,  that  remarkable  tribute  so 
strong  in  English,  so  expressive,  eloquent  and  sympathetic,  and 
said  that  his  Gettysburg  speech  had  changed  their  whole  course 
and  opinion  of  Lincoln. 

Lincoln  was  a  man  of  keen  vision,  of  almost  prophetic  ken. 
He  penetrated  almost  intuitively  the  thin  veneer  of  patriotism 
which  often  covered  pelf.  Pie  was  not  deceived  by  the 
wretched  shams  and  pretexts  behind  which  men,  under  the 
pretense  of  serving  their  country,  sought  upon  to  see,  in  all 
its  naked  deformity,  the  utter  selfishness  of  self,  and  yet,  not 
withstanding  it  all,  he  believed,  and  rightly  believed,  that  in 
the  main  and  on  the  average  the  plain  people  wanted  to  bo, 
intended  to  be,  and  were,  right. 

With  his  trained  reasoning  faculties,  he  reached  conclu 
sions  which  were  far  in  advance  of  the  general  thought  of  the 
people ;  hence,  in  thought,  in  speech,  in  the  discussion  of  great 
fundamental  principles  Lincoln  was  a  radical ;  and  yet  in  ad 
ministration,  in  the  discharge  of  executive  duties,  where  ho 
was  called  upon  to  act  for  others,  he  wras  a  conservative.  He 
said  to  Greeley,  Chase  and  Stevens,  and  others  of  like  fiery 
temper  and  spirit: 

You  are  theoretically  right  but  practically  wrong.  If  1  am 
to  lead  these  people  I  must  not  separate  myself  from  them. 
Whatever  my  individual  thoughts  may  be,  whatever  the  logical 
conclusions  of  my  mind,  based  upon  the  premises  which  I  admit 
to  bo  sound  and  true,  nevertheless  I  must  not  separate  myself 
from  the  people.  Tf  T  am  to  lead,  I  must  stay  with  the  pro 
cession. 

Lincoln  embodied  in  tho  mind  of  the  people  two  great 
issues  that  were  really  only  one — the  preservation  of  the  Amer 
ican  Union  and  tho  abolition  of  slavery.  At  the  root  of  both 


PKKSONAI.   RECOLLECTIONS  OF   LINCOLN.  .')! 


there  lay  a  moral  principle  and  both  appealed  with  overwhelm 
ing  force  to  sentiment.  They  were  so  plain,  so  vividly  defined, 
that  no  sophistry  could  obscure  them,  no  shrewd  debater  rea 
son  them  away.  And  so,  back  of  him  were  the  masses  of  the 
people,  their  eyes  fixed  with  pathetic  faith  and  loyalty  npon 
that  tall,  gaunt,  stooping,  homely  man,  who  to  their  minds 
meant  everything  that  makes  a  cause  worth  dying  for. 

Lincoln's  great  ability,  his  pure  administration,  his  kind 
but  firm  hand  has  disarmed  all  criticism,  and  today  no  one 
names  him  but  in  words  of  respect  and  love,  and  his  name  the 
world  over,  is  coupled  in  the  trinity — Washington.  Lincoln 
and  Grant,  the  creators  and  saviors  of  the  Union. 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT 
Photo  Presented  to  General   Dodge  at  City  Point,   October.   1864 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT 
Photo   Presented   to  General   Dodge  at  City   Point,   October,   1864 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 
GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT 


As  a  soldier,  General  Grant  stands  first  in  all  the  history 
of  warfare.  As  a  citizen,  his  acts,  his  foresight,  and  his 
methods  of  meeting  and  settling  all  great  questions,  stamp  him 
as  the  peer  of  the  best  statesmen  that  the  world  has  produced. 
In  fact,  in  the  old  world  his  statesmanship  is  considered  equal 
to  his  great  achievements  as  a  soldier.  As  he  came  to  be 
known  only  after  he  was  forty  years  old,  the  question  naturally 
arises,  was  there  anything  in  his  boyhood  or  early  manhood 
that  indicated  the  abilities  that  were  so  rapidly  developed 
during  the  Civil  War?  He  says  that  as  a  boy  he  loved  horses, 
not  books,  and  worked  on  the  farm,  arid  that  even  the  uniform 
of  a  soldier  had  no  attractions  for  him ;  that  he  was  an  indif 
ferent  scholar,  and  that  he  preferred  to  read  a  novel  than 
study  his  lessons ;  that  his  great  desire  was  to  travel  and  see 
our  country,  and  when  he  wras  appointed  to  West  Point  the 
only  inducement  for  him  to  accept  was  the  disgrace  it  would 
bring  upon  him  to  decline  after  his  father  had  asked  for  the 
appointment;  and,  finally,  he  was  reconciled  to  it  because  it 
would  enable  him  to  see  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  and 
that  his  long  stay  in  those  cities,  instead  of  repairing  prompt 
ly  to  West  Point,  brought  a  sharp  reminder  from  his  father. 

At  West  Point  Grant  was  an  indifferent  scholar,  had  a 
positive  dislike  to  anything  military,  and  neglected  his  studies. 
After  he  graduated  he  remained  in  the  army  hoping  to  be  pro 
fessor  at  West  Point  rather  than  an  officer  in  the  field.  He 
considered  the  Mexican  war  an  unholy  one.  He  says : 

I  regarded  the  war  as  one  of  the  most  unjust  ever  urged 
by  a  stronger  against  a  weaker  nation,  from  the  inception  of 
the  movement  to  its  final  consummation — a  conspiracy  to  ac- 


34 PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.       

quire  territory  out  of  which  slave  states  might  be  formed  for 
the  American  nation.  The  Southern  Rebellion  was  the  out 
growth  of  the  Mexican  war. 

He  joined  General  Taylor's  command  on  the  Rio  Grande, 
and,  although  acting  as  Quartermaster,  he  took  part  in  nearly 
all  of  the  battles  of  the  Mexican  war.  He  says : 

At  the  Battle  of  Monterey,  my  curiosity  got  the  better  of 
my  judgment,  and  I  mounted  a  horse  and  rode  to  the  front  to 
see  what  was  going  on.  I  had  been  there  but  a  short  time 
when  the  order  to  charge  was  given,  and  lacking  the  courage 
to  return  to  camp,  where  I  had  been  ordered  to  stay,  T  charged 
with  the  regiment. 

He  evidently  took  in  the  tactics,  logistics  and  strategy,  and 
sometimes  criticised  them.  In  one  or  two  of  the  fights  near 
the  City  of  Mexico  he  thought  the  enemy  could  have  been 
driven  out  by  flank  movements,  without  the  great  losses  in 
front  attacks  on  the  enemy's  strong  positions.  At  the  gates 
of  Mexico  he  developed  some  of  those  wonderful  qualities  that 
were  so  prominent  in  the  Civil  War,  when  he  took  his  little 
squad  of  men  to  flank  the  Mexican  troops  out  of  their  position 
at  the  Garita  San  Cosma,  and  caused  the  fall  of  the  City  of 
Mexico,  and  received  the  commendation  of  the  commanding 
officer,  and  was  brevetted. 

After  this  campaign  in  the  Mexican  war  he  seemed  less  in 
clined  than  ever  to  follow  the  army  permanently,  and  soon  re 
signed  and  returned  to  civil  life. 

General  Grant  entered  the  service  in  the  Civil  War  as 
Colonel  of  the  Twenty-first  Illinois  Infantry,  and  brought  the 
regiment  to  great  efficiency.  He  was  sent  to  Northern  Mis 
souri.  His  first  order  was  to  march  against  Colonel  Harris, 
who  had  a  rebel  regiment  near  the  town  of  Florida.  General 
Grant  says : 

As  we  approached  the  brow  of  the  hill  from  which  it  was 
expected  we  could  see  Harris'  camp,  and  probably  find  his 
men  ready  formed  to  meet  us.  my  heart  kept  getting  higher 


PKKSOXAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 


and  higher  until  it  felt  to  me  as  though  it  was  in  my  throat. 
T  would  have  given  anything  then  to  have  been  back  in  Illinois, 
but  T  had  not  the  moral  courage  to  halt  and  consider  what  to 
do.  I  kept  right  on,  and  when  I  found  that  Harris  had  left, 
it  occurred  to  me  at  once  that  Harris  had  been  as  much  afraid 
of  me  as  I  had  been  of  him.  This  was  a  view  of  the  matter  I 
had  never  taken,  and  it  was  one  I  never  forgot  afterwards. 
Prom  that  event  to  the  close  of  the  war  T  never  experienced 
trepidation  upon  confronting  the  enemy,  although  I  always 
felt  more  or  less  anxiety.  I  never  forgot  that  the  enemy  had 
as  much  reason  to  fear  my  force  as  T  had  his.  The  lesson  was 
a  valuable  one. 

BELMONT. 

Prom  North  Missouri  he  was  sent  to  Southeast  Missouri,, 
and  was  then  made  a  Brigadier-Genera],  and  ordered  to  Cairo. 
His  first  important  battle  was  Belmont,  brought  about  by  his 
movement  to  threaten  Columbus.  His  orders  were  to  make 
a,  demonstration  against  the  Confederate-  force  at  or  near  Co- 
lumbus,  Kentucky,  to  prevent  their  sending  reinforcements  to 
a  Confederate  command  that  a  Pederal  force  had  been  sent 
to  attack  on  the  St.  Francis  River.  Grant  had  no  intention  of 
fighting  a  battle  when  he  started  out  for  Belmont.  His  orders 
did  not  contemplate  an  attack,  but  after  he  started  he  says 
that  he  saw  that  the  officers  and  men  were  elated  at  the  pros 
pect  of  doing  what  they  volunteered  to  do---fight  the  enemies 
of  their  country — and  he  did  not  see  how  he  could  maintain 
discipline  or  the  confidence  of  his  command  if  he  returned  to 
Cairo  without  an  attempt  to  do  something.  This  battle  first 
brought  the  country's  attention  to  Grant.  He  displayed  that 
(•onfidence,  good  judgment  and  self-reliance  that  afterwards 
became  so  conspicuous. 

FORT  HENRY  AND  DONELSON. 

General  Grant  was  ordered  soon  after  Belmoiit  to  make 
a  demonstration  up  the  Tennessee  Eiver,  and  towards  Colum 
bus,  Kentucky,  with  a  view  of  holding  the  Confederate  forces 
there  while  the  campaign  around  Bowling  Green  was  proceed- 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GKANT. 


ing.  In  this  movement  General  C.  F.  Smith  reported  that 
Fort  Heineman,  opposite  Fort  Henry  on  the  Tennessee  River. 
could  be  captured.  Grant  believed  the  true  line  of  operation 
for  his  force  was  by  the  Tennessee  and  Cumberland  Rivers, 
and  asked  permission  to  visit  St.  Louis  and  lay  the  plan  before 
General  Halleck,  but  says : 

1  was  received  with  so  little  cordiality  that  I  perhaps 
stated  the  subject  of  my  visit  with  less  clearness  than  I  might 
have  done,  and  I  had  not  uttered  many  sentences  before  1 
was  cut  short  as  if  my  plan  was  preposterous,  and  I  returned 
to  Cairo  very  much  crestfallen. 

On  his  return  he  consulted  Flag  Officer  Foote,  who  com 
manded  the  gunboat  Heet  on  the  Mississippi  River,  and  he 
agreed  with  Grant,  and  notwithstanding  his  rebuff;  Grant  re 
newed  the  suggestion,  and  on  .January  28th,  wrote  General 
Halleck  fully  in  regard  to  his  plans.  On  the  1st  of  February 
General  Grant  received  instructions  from  General  Halleck,  go 
ing  Fully  into  every  detail,  to  march  upon  and  capture  Fort 
Henry.  On  the  2d  the  expedition  was  started  ;  on  the  6th  Fort 
Henry  was  captured,  and  Grant  wired  Ilalleck  that  on  the  8th 
he  would  move  on  Fort  Donelson,  not  even  waiting  for  orders 
to  do  so.  On  February  16th,  1862,  Fort  Donelson  surrendered 
to  him  with  its  entire  force.  Grant,  in  this  battle,  displayed 
the  tactics  which  were  ever  in  his  mind- — that  when  the  enemy 
attacked,  to  also  attack  on  some  other  portion  of  the  line,  and 
when  the  enemy  attacked  and  turned  his  right  he  immediately 
attacked  and  turned  the  enemy's  right,  and  carried  their  in- 
trenehments,  forcing  the  final  surrender. 

In  writing  Mrs.  Grant  of  the  capture  of  Forts  Henry  and 
Donelson,  he  says  : 

These  terrible  battles  are  very  good  things  to  read  about 
for  persons  who  lose  no  friends,  but  I  am  decidedly  in  favor 
of  having  as  little  of  it  as  possible.  The  way  to  avoid  it.  is  to 
push  forward  as  vigorously  as  possible. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  37 

After  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson  had  been  taken  General 
Grant  started  to  carry  out  this  program,  and  visited  Clarks- 
ville  and  Nashville.  Because  General  Halleck,  his  comma  rid 
ing  officer,  did  not  receive  prompt  reports  from  General 
Grant,  he  issued  this  order: 

You  will  place  Major-General  C.  F.  Smith  in  command  of 
expedition  and  remain  yourself  at  Fort  Henry.  Why  do  you 
not  obey  iny  orders  and  report  strength  and  position  of  your 
command  ? 

Up  to  this  time  Grant  had  not  received  one  word  from 
Halleck,  and  all  his  reports  sent  to  Halleck  went  to  the  end  of 
the  telegraph  line,  wrhere  the  operator  was  a  rebel,  who  de 
serted  and  took  all  these  dispatches  with  him.  Buel,  Halleck 
and  McClellan  all  seemed  demoralized  by  Grant's  great  vic 
tories.  They,  looking  for  the  enemy  to  recover,  while  Grant 
thought  of  nothing  but  their  demoralization,  and  the  desire  to 
follow  them.  Grant,  on  the  ground,  was  the  only  person  who 
saw  the  situation,  and  had  any  power  to  take  advantage  of  it. 
The  rebels,  in  their  consternation,  abandoned  everything  as 
fast  as  possible,  and  even  evacuated  Chattanooga,  three  hun 
dred  miles  away. 

When  Halleck  got  into  communication  with  Grant  he  in 
formed  him  that  he  was  advised  to  arrest  him  because  he  went 
to  Nashville,  a  point  within  his  own  command,  and  no  one 
could  hear  from  him.  They  could  not  trust  the  man  who 
within  thirty  days  had  broken  through  the  entire  rebel  line, 
driven  their  forces  beyond  the  Tennessee,  and  captured  their 
fortified  places  and  all  the  troops  in  them.  In  writing  of  this 
to  his  wife,  General  Grant  says: 

All  the  slanders  you  have  seen  against  me  originated 
away  from  where  T  was.  The  only  foundation  was  from  the 
fact  that  I  was  ordered  to  remain  at  Fort  Henry  and  send  the 
expedition  up  the  Tennessee  River  under  the  command  of 
Major-General  ('.  F.  Smith.  This  was  ordered  because  General 
Halleck  received  no  report  from  me  for  near  two  weeks  after 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 


the  fall  of  Fort  Donelson.  The  same  occurred  with  me;  I  re 
ceived  nothing  from  him.  The  consequence  was  I  was  appar 
ently  totally  disregarding  his  orders.  The  fact  was  he  was 
ordering  me  every  day  to  report  the  condition  of  my  command. 
I  was  not  receiving  the  orders,  but  knowing  my  duties,  was 
reporting  daily,  and  when  anything  occurred  to  make  it  neces 
sary,  two  or  three  times  a  day.  When  I  was  ordered  to  re 
main  behind  it  was  the  cause  of  much  astonishment  among 
the  troops  of  my  command,  and  also  disappointment.  When 
I  was  again  ordered  to  join  them  they  showed,  I  believe,  heart 
felt  joy.  I  never  allowed  a  word  of  contradiction  to  go  out 
from  my  headquarters,  thinking  this  the  best  course.  I  know, 
though  I  do  not  like  to  speak  of  myself,  that  General  Halleck 
would  regard  this  army  badly  off  if  I  was  relieved.  Not  but 
what  there  are  Generals  with  it  abundantly  able  to  command, 
but  because  it  would  leave  inexperienced  officers  senior  in 
rank.  You  need  not  fear  but  what  I  will  come  out  triumphant 
ly.  I  am  pulling  no  wires,  as  political  Generals  do,  to  advance 
myself.  T  have  no  future  ambition.  My  object  is  to  carry  on 
my  part  of  this  war  successfully,  and  I  am  perfectly  willing 
that  others  may  make  all  the  glory  they  can  out  of  it. 

General  McClellan,  on  Halleck's  representations,  ordered 
that  Grant  should  be  relieved  from  duty  and  an  investigation 
made.  He  even  authorized  Grant's  arrest;  this  within  tw<> 
weeks  of  his  great  victory  that  electrified  the  country.  Grant's 
explanation  of  delays  in  receiving  dispatches,  his  visit  to  Nash 
ville,  etc.,  reached  Halleck,  and  Grant  was  restored  to  his 
command  on  March  13th,  Halleck  claiming  his  explanation  to 
Washington  had  exhonorated  Grant,  but  he  did  not  inform 
Grant  that  his  whole  trouble  came  from  his  (Halleck's)  mis 
leading  reports  to  Washington. 

Grant  proceeded  immediately  to  Savannah,  Tennessee, 
where  he  found  General  C.  F.  Smith  in  command,  sick,  and  he 
soon  died. 

General  Grant  says  of  the  condition  of  the  South  after  the 
fall  of  Donelson : 

That  his  opinion  was  and  still  is  that  the  way  wavs  open 
for  the  National  forces  to  occupy  any  part  of  the  Southwest 
without  much  resistance.  Tf  one  General  was  in  command  of 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  39 


all  the  forces  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  who  would  have  taken 
the  responsibility,  he  could  have  moved  to  Chattanooga,  Mem 
phis,  Corinth  and  Vicksburg,  and  with  the  troops  pouring  in 
from  the  North  he  could  have  kept  all  these  places,  leaving 
his  army  to  operate  against  any  body  of  the  enemy  that  could 
have  been  concentrated  in  his  front.  Rapid  movements,  with 
the  occupation  of  the  enemy's  territory,  would  have  discour 
aged  a  large  number  of  young  men  who  had  gone  from  that 
territory  into  the  rebel  army,  and  brought  them  home,  and 
we  would  have  permanently  held  that  territory  that  cost  so 
many  lives  to  conquer  later,  but  our  delays  gave  courage  to 
the  enemy,  and  they  collected  new  armies,  fortified  their  posi 
tions,  and  twice  afterwards  came  near  making  their  line  on 
the  Ohio  River. 

SHILOH. 

No  campaign  or  battle  of  Grant's  has  received  such  unjust 
and  severe  criticism  as  the  Battle  of  Shiloh,  but  as  we  now 
read  the  official  reports  of  that  battle,  we  see  that  at  night 
on  the  first  day  of  the  battle  Grant  was  master  of  the  field, 
with  Wallace's  Division  of  12,000  fresh  troops  that  had  not 
fired  a  gun ;  that  the  enemy  were  exhausted  and  demoralized, 
and  had  no  reinforcements ;  and,  as  Grant  claims,  he  would 
have  wiped  them  out  the  second  day  without  the  aid  of  Buel. 
The  fact  is,  from  the  very  moment  of  the  attack  on  the  second 
morning,  Beauregard,  who  was  in  command  after  the  death  of 
Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  commenced  retreating,  and  fell  back 
to  Corinth,  and  Grant,  if  he  had  not  been  restrained  by  orders, 
would  within  a  week  have  had  his  forces  facing  Corinth,  less 
than  twenty  miles  away.  The  one  mistake  made  by  General 
C.  F.  Smith,  which  Grant  had  not  rectified  at  Shiloh,  was  in 
not  intrenching  their  forces  as  they  arrived  from  day  to  day, 
on  the  general  line  of  defense.  Grant  admits  this,  but  says  as 
it  was  his  purpose  to  proceed  immediately  against  the  enemy 
at  Corinth  he  did  not  think  it  necessary,  and  it  never  entered 
his  mind  that  the  enemy  would  attack  him.  Besides,  these 
troops  were  mostly  green  and  needed  drilling  and  discipline 
more  than  they  did  experience  with  pick  and  shovel,  and  Grant 


40 PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

also  says  that  there  was  no  hour  during  the  day  when  he 
doubted  the  eventual  defeat  of  the  enemy. 

In  the  first  day's  battle  the  forces  on  each  side  were  about 
equal.  Grant  says  that  up  to  Shiloh  he  believed  the  Rebellion 
would  collapse  suddenly  as  soon  as  a  decisive  victory  could  be 
gained,  and  after  such  victories  as  the  capture  of  Donelson, 
the  fall  of  Bowling  Green,  Nashville  (with  its  immense  amount 
of  stores),  Columbia,  Hickman,  opening  the  Tennessee  and 
Cumberland  from  the  mouth  to  head,  he  believed  peace  would 
come.  After  this,  when  Confederate  armies  collected,  and  new 
lines  of  defenses  from  Chattanooga  to  Corinth  and  Knoxville, 
and  on  to  the  Atlantic,  were  formed,  and  they  took  the  offen 
sive,  he  gave  up  all  idea  of  saving  the  Union  except  by  com 
plete  conquest.  Up  to  this  time  he  had  protected  property  and 
citizens.  After  this  he  pursued  the  plan  of  consuming  and  de 
stroying  everything  that  could  be  used  to  support  and  supply 
armies,  and  this  policy  he  pursued  to  the  end  of  the  war. 

Grant  never  made  a  report  of  the  Battle  of  Shiloh.  as 
Buel,  who  commanded  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  refused  to  make 
reports  to  him.  A  few  days  after  the  battle  General  Halleck 
arrived  at  Pittsburg  Landing  and  assumed  command,  Grant 
being  placed  as  second  in  command,  and  ignored.  Halleck 
had  three  armies — the  Ohio,  Buel  commanding;  the  Army  of 
the  Mississippi,  Pope  commanding;  and  the  Army  of  the  Ten 
nessee,  Grant's  old  command,  to  which  General  George  H. 
Thomas  was  assigned  to  the  command.  There  was  no  time 
after  the  Battle  of  Shiloh  but  what  the  enemy  would  have  re 
treated  from  Corinth  had  a  movement  been  made  against  it. 
Beauregard  had  about  50,000  men  in  Corinth,  while  against  him 
were  120,000,  and  any  of  the  three  armies  could  have  planted 
itself  on  his  communications  and  forced  him  to  fight  in  the  open 
or  retreat.  Grant  suggested  to  Halleck  such  a  move  by  the  left, 
but  says  he  was  silenced  so  quickly  that  he  thought  possibly 
he  had  suggested  an  nnmilitary  movement.  Logan,  who  com- 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  41 

nianded  a  "Brigade  on  the  extreme  left,  on  the  28th  of  May 
told  Grant  the  enemy  had  been  evacuating  several  days,  and 
if  they  would  let  him  he  could  go  into  Corinth  with  his  Bri 
gade.  Beauregard  published  his  orders  and  evacuated  on  the 
26th  of  May  and  our  army  entered  on  the  30th,  the  enemy  not 
leaving  a  thing,  not  even  a  sick  or  wounded  soldier.  Even 
after  they  had  left,  llalleck  issued  orders  on  the  30th  of  May 
for  a  battle,  and  had  his  whole  army  drawn  up  in  line  to 
meet  the  enemy.  The  army  was  greatly  disappointed  at  the 
result.  Grant  says  he  was  satisfied  that  Corinth  could  have 
been  captured  in  a  two  days'  campaign  made  immediately 
after  Shiloh,  without  any  additional  reinforcements,  and  that 
after  Corinth  they  had  a  movable  force  of  80,000  men,  be 
sides  sufficient  force  for  holding  all  territory  acquired  in  any 
campaign.  New  Orleans  and  Raton  Rouge  were  ours,  and  the 
enemy  had  only  a  single  line  of  railroad  from  Vicksburg  to 
Richmond,  and  in  one  move  we  had  the  opportunity  to  occupy 
Vicksburg  and  Atlanta  without  much  opposition.  But  we 
continued  to  pursue  the  policy  of  distributing  this  great  army, 
and  for  nearly  a  year  accomplished  no  great  results  from  it. 
giving  up  the  territory  back  to  Nashville,  holding  only  the 
line  from  the  Tennessee  River  to  .Memphis. 

General  Grant's  position  at  Corinth,  with  a  nominal  com 
mand,  became  so  unbearable  that  he  asked  permission  of  llal 
leck  to  move  his  headquarters  to  Memphis.  He  had  repeatedly 
asked  to  be  relieved  from  command  under  Halleck,  but  Sher- 
man  prevailed  on  him  to  remain.  On  June  21,  1862,  he  moved 
to  Memphis.  On  -Inly  11th,  Halleck  was  placed  in  command 
of  all  the  armies  at  Washington,  and  Grant  returned .  to 
Corinth,  and  in  July,  1862,  was  given  only  the  command  of 
the  District  of  the  West  Tennessee,  which  embraced  West  Ten 
nessee  and  Kentucky  west  of  the  Cumberland. 

As  one  reads  the  reports  and  makes  comparisons — first. 
Grant  fighting  at  every  opportunity,  winning  every  battle, 


4:2  PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIQNS  OF  GRANT. 

pleading  to  move  on  the  enemy  after  every  battle,  but  stopped, 
humiliated  after  each  campaign,  and  finally  when  given  a  com 
mand  only  allowed  a  district,  while  on  the  other  hand  Hal- 
leck,  who  had  not  fought  a  battle,  who  took  fifty-five  days  or 
more,  with  three  men  to  the  enemy's  one,  to  make  twenty 
miles,  which,  by  a  simple  flank  movement,  could  have  been  ac 
complished  in  two  days,  with  one  of  the  best  opportunities  of 
the  war  to  capture  or  destroy  an  army  of  50,000  men,  who  pre 
vented  Grant  from  reaping  the  full  benefit  of  every  battle  he 
fought,  was  brought  to  Washington  and  given  full  command 
of  all  the  armies,  while  Grant  was  not  even  allowed  to  resume 
command  of  the  department  Halleck  vacated — the  record  is 
most  astonishing.  Halleck  had  no  confidence  in  Grant.  The 
officers  in  the  field  looked  on  in  amazement,  and  wondered  what 
the  powers  in  Washington  could  be  thinking  of.  Grant  ae 
cepted  whatever  was  given  him,  never  making  a  word  of  pro 
test  or  complaint.  He  was  now  again  in  position  to  commence 
moving  on  the  enemy,  and  although  Halleck 's  great  army 
had  been  distributed,  Grant  had  left  in  his  command  50,000 
troops,  and  commenced  preparing  for  another  movement,  not 
even  suggesting  that  more  force  be  sent  him.  There  was  fac 
ing  him  an  army  of  about  40,000  men  under  Van  Dorn,  and 
Grant,  with  his  numerous  posts  and  large  territory,  could  not 
muster  more  than  20,000  men  for  an  aggressive  army.  He  says 
that  his  most  anxious  period  during  the  war  was  the  time 
that  he  was  guarding  all  this  territory  until  he  was  reinforced 
and  took  the  aggressive. 

On  August  2d,  1862,  Grant  was  ordered  to  live  upon  the 
country,  upon  the  resources  of  citizens  hostile  to  the  Govern 
ment;  to  handle  rebels  within  our  lines  without  gloves,  im 
poverish  them,  and  expel  them  from  our  lines.  Grant  did  not 
see  the  necessity  of  this,  and  says  he  does  not  recollect  hav 
ing  arrested  or  imprisoned  a  citizen  during  the  entire  Rebel 
lion. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. -±3 

During  this  time,  with  his  inferior  force,  Grant  sent  two 
Divisions  to  Buel  and  one  to  Rosecraiis  at  Corinth. 

IUKA  AND  CORINTH 

Van  Dorn,  who  commanded  the  rebel  army  in  Grant's 
front,  soon  saw  how  small  a  force  Grant  had,  and  decided  to 
attack  him.  He  brought  Price's  army  across  the  Mississippi 
River,  and  both  combined  and  moved  on  Grant's  lines.  Grant 
moved  to  Jackson  himself  so  he  could  be  in  close  touch  with 
his  force,  and  where,  by  the  railway  from  Jackson  to  Grand 
Junction  and  Jackson  to  Corinth,  he  could  reinforce  the  point 
attacked  more  readily.  Price  immediately  moved  on  luka. 
and  Grant  saw  a  chance  to  defeat  and  capture  him,  and  went 
himself  immediately  to  Glendale,  sending  Rosecrans'  force 
from  Corinth  to  the  rear  of  Price,  and  General  Ord  to  head 
him  off.  A  portion  of  Kosecrans'  force  fought  Price  near  luka, 
but  General  Ord  did  not  know  or  hear  of  the  battle,  although 
the  order  was,  if  either  force  was  attacked,  to  notify  the  other. 
There  were  two  roads  leading  out  of  luka  to  the  South,  and 
Roseerans  was  ordered  to  take  possession  of  both,  but  failed 
to  occupy  the  easterly  one,  and  during  the  night  Price  re 
treated  on  this  road,  avoiding  both  Rosecrans  and  Ord.  Van 
Dorn  and  Price  combined  their  forces  southwest  of  Corinth, 
and  moved  immediately  on  that  place.  As  soon  as  Grant  as 
certained  this,  he  ordered  Hurlbut  with  all  the  force  he  had 
to  move  from  Memphis  and  get  in  Van  Dora's  rear,  and  started 
McPherson  with  a  Division  from  Jackson  to  reinforce  Rose 
crans.  Van  Dorn  commenced  his  attack  on  Corinth  on  Octo 
ber  2d,  Rosecrans  had  pushed  his  second  Division  out  nearly 
three  miles  from  Corinth,  and  allowed  the  attack  to  fall  upon 
this  Division,  which  was  steadily  pushed  back  during  the  day 
until  it  finally  reached  the  inside  works  at  Corinth,  fighting 
very  gallantly  at  every  line  of  defense.  On  the  second  day,  Van 
Dorn  and  Price  had  Corinth  partially  invested,  and  a  very 


44  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

severe  battle  ensued,  both  sides  fighting  with  great  gallantry 
and  great  loss.  Price  and  Van  Dorn  were  completely  defeated, 
and  their  army  retreated  greatly  demoralized,  and  should 
have  been  relentlessly  followed  and  their  trains  and  artillery 
captured,  and  although  Grant  urged  this  in  a  dispatch,  for  some 
reason  there  were  delays,  and  when  the  troops  did  follow  they 
took  the  wrong  road,  which  enabled  the  enemy  to  escape,  al 
though  Uurlbut's  and  Ord  's  forces  captured  portions  of  their 
trains  and  artillery. 

Grant  criticises  Kosecrans  severely  for  his  movements  in 
these  battles,  and  censures  him  for  failing  to  capture  Price  at 
luka,  and  to  follow  Van  Dorn  after  Corinth.  There  were 
many  protests  from  Generals  McPherson,  Hurlbut,  and  other 
officers,  who  were  ordered  to  aid  Rosecrans  in  these  battles, 
and  these  protests  especially  related  to  his  reports.  Rose 
crans  denounced  the  action  of  the  second  Division,  which  held 
the  center  at  Corinth,  as  cowardly.  Tt  was  the  Division  Grant 
had  organized  at  Cairo,  that  fought  at  Belmont  and  carried 
the  lines  at  Donelson,  and  they  showed  themselves  veterans 
at  Corinth,  because  when  they  were  broken  through  they  ral 
lied  and  retook  the  line. 

Mrs.  Grant,  who  was  present  with  General  Grant  at  Jack 
son,  stated  that  these  officers  appealed  to  her  in  the  matter, 
and  in  her  talk  with  General  Grant  he  Avas  disinclined  to  re 
lieve  Rosecrans.  While  the  matter  was  under  discussion,  on 
the  23d  of  October,  1862,  the  War  Department  assigned  Rose 
crans  to  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland.  Mrs. 
Grant  says  that  when  Grant  received  the  dispatch  he  came  out 
of  his  tent  holding  it  in  his  hands,  and  declaring  that  his  great 
est  trouble  had  been  solved.  Grant  says  in  relation  to  Rosecrans 
that  as  a  subordinate  he  found  he  could  not  make  him  do  as 
he  wished,  and  had  finally  determined  to  relieve  him  from 
duty  if  he  had  not  received  this  assignment,  and  that  he  was 
greatly  pleased  -at  his  being  assigned  to  the  command  of  the 


PEHSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  UKANT.  45 

Army  of  the  Cumberland,  believing  that  perhaps  in  such  a 
position  he  would  be  more  efficient  and  useful  than  he  was  as 
a  subordinate. 

Grant,  up  to  this  time,  had  only  been  commanding  the  Dis 
trict  of  the  Tennessee,  but  had  in  his  command  50,000  men. 
The  authorities  in  Washington  still  seemed  disinclined  to  give 
him  the  command  he  was  entitled  to,  but  on  the  25th  of  Octo 
ber,  1862,  he  was  placed  in  command  of  the  Army  and  Depart 
ment  of  the  Tennessee. 

At  the  time  of  the  Battle  of  Corinth  I  was  in  command  of 
the  Fourth  Division,  District  of  West  Tennessee,  and  was  re 
building  the  railway  from  Columbus  to  Corinth.  T  had  just 
made  the  connection  at  Humboldt,  and  had  been  several  days 
at  the  front  giving  personal  attention  to  the  work.  I  received 
a  dispatch  from  General  Quimby,  my  commanding  officer,  di 
recting  me  to  report  immediately  at  Corinth  for  orders.  I  was 
away  from  my  own  headquarters  in  a  working  (undress)  suit; 
had  nothing  with  me,  and  hesitated  about  going  as  T  was,  but 
I  concluded  it  was  best  to  report,  so  took  the  train,  and  at 
Jackson,  Tennessee,  Colonel  John  A.  Rawlins,  whom  I  had 
never  seen,  came  onto  the  train  and  asked  if  T  was  on  board. 
1  made  myself  known  to  him,  and  he  informed  me  that  Gen 
eral  Grant  was  out  on  the  platform  and  desired  to  see  me.  I 
apologized  to  Colonel  Rawlins,  stating  that  I  was  not  in  prop 
er  dress  for  presenting  myself  to  the  commanding  officer.  He 
saw  my  predicament  and  said:  "Oh,  we  know  all  about  you, 
don't  mind  that."  T  stepped  out  on  the  platform.  General 
Grant  met  me,  shook  my  hand  cordially,  and  spoke  very  ap 
provingly  of  what  1  had  done,  and  I  then  saw  that  he  was  no 
better  dressed  than  I  was,  which  greatly  relieved  me.  In  a 
few  words  General  Grant  informed  me  that  he  had  assigned 
me  to  the  command  of  the  Second  Division  of  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee  at  Corinth,  and  quietly  but  with  a  determina 
tion  that  struck  me  so  forcibly  that  I  could  make  no  answer. 


46  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

said:  ''And  I  want  you  to  understand  you  are  not  going  to 
command  a  Division  of  cowards." 

I  stammered  out  something,  I  know  not  what,  and  tried  to 
thank  him,  but  had  no  comprehension  of  what  he  meant,  as  T 
had  heard  nothing  against  the  Division;  but  when  I  arrived 
at  Corinth  and  assumed  command,  relieving  General  Davies. 
I  found  that  in  the  Battle  of  Corinth,  on  the  second  day,  the 
Division  had  been  formed  on  the  north  side  of  the  town,  and 
that  a  Brigade  and  a  Battery  to  the  east  of  them  had  been 
seized  with  panic,  breaking  through  their  ranks  and  carrying 
a  portion  of  one  Brigade  into  the  town.  The  Division,  how 
ever,  held  its  organization  intact,  and  regained  all  lost  ground. 
really  saving  the  day. 

General  Rosecrans,  in  his  official  report  of  the  Battle  of 
Corinth,  had  branded  the  men  as  cowards,  and  General  Grant 
had  disapproved  his  actions  and  comments.  The  Division  won 
imperishable  renown.  Upon  their  banner  was  inscribed.  "First 
at  Donelson,"  and  from  that  time  until  after  the  Atlanta  Cam 
paign  they  served  directly  under  me.  From  Corinth  to  the 
end  of  the  war  they  took  no  step  backward.  Their  great  bat 
tle  of  Atlanta,  where  they  helped  to  hold  a  whole  Corps  of 
Mood's  army,  and  afterwards  Altoona,  when,  under  General 
Corse  they  held  that  strategic  point  against  the  terrific  on 
slaughts  of  four  times  their  numbers,  gave  me  cause  to  always 
remember  the  words  of  General  Grant — that  I  was  not  as 
signed  to  command  a  Division  of  cowards.  The  correspond 
ence  which  follows  shows  how  unjust  Roseeran's  charges  were. 

Hdqrs.  Second  Div.,  Army  of  West  Tennessee, 
Corinth,  Miss.,  Oct.  23,  1862. 
Major-General  Rosecrans : 

Sir: — On  the  afternoon  of  October  4th,  after  the  victories 
of  that  day  and  of  the  3d,  you  said  upon  the  battlefield,  among 
the  piles  of  the  dead  and  groans  of  the  wounded  slain  by  the 
Second  Division,  Army  of  the  West  Tennessee,  that  they  were 
a  set  of  cowards :  that  they  never  should  have  any  military 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 


standing  in  your  army  till  they  had  won  it  on  the  field  of  bat 
tle  ;  that  they  had  disgraced  themselves,  and  no  wonder  the 
rebel  army  had  thrown  its  whole  force  upon  it  during  the  two 
days'  engagement. 

My  report  is  now7  before  you.  The  effect  of  the  official  an 
nouncement  which  you  have  made  is  having  a  very  demoraliz 
ing  effect  upon  the  brave  men  and  working  injury  to  them 
throughout  the  country.  It  has  been  the  basis  of  newspaper 
articles  and  of  strictures  upon  the  military  conduct  of  the 
Division.  I  would  most  respectfully  ask,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
service,  and  for  the  honor  of  the  Division,  that  if  you  have 
changed  your  opinions  you  would  publicly  give  a  refutation 
to  these  charges. 

f  am,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 
THOMAS  A.  DA  VIES. 

Hdqrs.  Army  of  the  Miss., 

Third  Division,  Dist.  West  Tennessee. 
General  Davies  : 

General  :  —  In  reply  to  your  note,  just  received,  I  would  say 
that  having  read  your  very  clear  and  creditable  report  of  the 
operations  of  your  Division.  I  am  satisfied  they  fought  very 
nobly  on  the  first  day,  and  so  much  so  that  I  shall  overlook 
the  cowardly  stampeding  of  those  under  my  immediate  obser 
vation  on  the  second  day,  which  gave  rise  to  the  public  indig 
nation  I  expressed  in  your  presence  and  in  theirs.  Assure  the 
brave  officers  and  men  of  your  'Division  that  I  will  endeavor- 
to  do  them  public  and  ample  justice,  which  will  be  more  than 
all  the  newspaper  talk  to  their  disparagement.  You  will  oblige 
rne  by  making  this  letter  known  to  the  command,  and  you  may 
use  it  publicly  if  you  wish  while  waiting  my  official  report. 

W.  S.  ROSECRANS,  Major-General. 

When  General  Grant,  in  the  winter  of  1862-63,  obtained 
permission  to  make  his  first  move  on  Vicksburg  and  Pember- 
ton's  army,  he  notified  me  that  General  Wallace  would  relieve 
me  and  I  would  be  given  a  command  in  his  army,  but  the  de 
feat  of  this  first  movement  changed  the  entire  plan. 

VICKSBURG. 

Grant's  first  campaign  against  Vicksburg  was  for  Sherman, 
with  thirty  thousand  men,  to  go  down  the  Mississippi  River 
by  boat  and  attack  Vicksburg  from  the  Yazoo  side,  while  he 


48  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

(Grant)  attacked  Pemberton  and  his  army,  then  at  Granada, 
and  if  Pemberton  retreated,  follow  him  to  the  gates  of  Vicks- 
burg.  General  J.  E.  Johnston  soon  saw  the  danger  of  this 
combined  attack  of  Grant  and  Sherman  on  Vicksburg,  and  im 
mediately  ordered  a  movement  of  General  Van  Dorn  and  all 
his  cavalry,  together  with  the  forces  of  Generals  Jackson  and 
Forest  from  Middle  Tennessee,  upon  Grant's  communications, 
to  force  the  abandonment  of  Grant's  advance. 

At  the  same  time  the  force  I  commanded  at  Corinth  was 
to  move  down  the  Mobile  &  Ohio  Railroad  towards  Meridian 
for  the  purpose  of  protecting  that  flank  and  hold  what  force 
I  could  in  my  front.  On  December  9th  Grant  wired  me  thai 
Jackson's  cavalry,  some  3,000  men  he  thought,  was  starting 
to  my  rear;  and  again  on  December  18th,  to  take  such  force 
as  could  be  spared  and  with  troops  at  Jackson  and  in  the 
field  attack  Forest  and  drive  him  across  the  Tennessee  River. 
This  I  did,  and  by  January  7th  Forest  had  been  driven  across 
the  Tennessee,  and  Jackson  had  been  driven  south  of  the 
Tallehatchie,  and  I  reported  by  the  following  dispatch : 

Corinth,  Jan.  7,  1862. 

Had  gun-boats  come  up  the  river  at  the  time  I  sent  for 
them,  or  had  General  Davis  been  allowed  to  come  with  even  a 
transport  and  a  piece  or  two  of  artillery  and  destroyed  the 
flats,  we  should  have  captured  the  rebel  force  (Forest's)  on 
this  side  of  the  river.  'As  it  was  they  had  several  hard  knocks 
before  they  escaped.  Captured  four  cannon  and  six  hundred 
prisoners. 

Van  Dorn  attacked  Holly  Springs  on  the  20th  of  Decem 
ber,  where  were  stored  all  of  Grant's  supplies.  Colonel  Mur- 
,phey,  who  commanded  this  point,  and  had  plenty  of  troops  to 
defend  it.  surrendered  without  firing  a  gun.  This  combina 
tion  of  Johnston's,  and  the  surrender  of  Holly  Springs  forced 
Grant  to  retreat  to  the  line  of  the  Memphis  &  Charleston  Rail 
road,  and  allowed  Pemberton  to  move  to  Vicksburg  and  defeat 
Sherman's  attack  upon  that  point. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  49 

This  is  the  first,  and,  I  believe,  only  case  where  a  campaign 
was  defeated  and  two  separate  armies  forced  to  retreat  by  a 
cavalry  raid,  one  going  down  the  Mississippi  to  Vicksburg, 
and  the  other  towards  Vicksburg  by  land,  by  way  of  Granada, 
and  was  the  first  time  Grant  abandoned  a  campaign.  As  he 
fell  back  he  lived  off  the  country,  and  finding  his  army  was 
so  easily  fed  he  said  that  if  he  had  had  the  experience  before 
he  would  have  let  his  base  of  supplies  go,  and  push  on  to 
Vicksburg,  living  off  the  country,  holding  or  defeating  Pem- 
berton,  and  preventing  him  from  reaching- Vicksburg  before 
Sherman  could  have  taken  it.  After  this  time  Grant  and  all 
the  armies  he  commanded  followed  this  policy,  obtaining  their 
rations  by  living  off  the  country  when  necessary.  Especially 
was  this  the  case  in  his  campaign  in  the  rear  of  Vicksburg. 
which  immediately  followed  after  the  defeat  at  Holly  Springs. 

After  the  defeat  of  Sherman  and  the  loss  of  Holly  Springs, 
Grant  determined  to  move  his  whole  army  down  the  Missis 
sippi  River,  leaving  me  in  command  at  Corinth  to  cover  his 
left  flank,  and  preventing  any  portion  of  Bragg 's  army  from 
reaching  the  Mississippi  River,  or,  in  fact,  making  a  lodgment 
west  of  the  Tennessee  River.  This  virtually  left  me  with  the 
east  and  south,  facing  the  Confederate  forces. 

Soon  after  I  took  command  at  Corinth,  I  received  a  letter 
from  Senator  James  W.  Grimes  of  my  own  state,  inquiring 
particularly  as  to  the  condition  of  our  Army,  and  also  about 
General  Grant,  and  I  wrote  the  Senator  a  very  long  letter,  go 
ing  into  detail  about  the  condition  and  giving  him  the  army's 
view  of  General  Grant,  which  was  unanimously  in  favor  of 
him.  They  considered  him  the  best  commander  they  had  ever 
been  under,  and  I  complained  of  the  treatment  General  Grant 
was  receiving  from  the  War  Department.  He  had  been  placed 
in  command  of  the  District  of  West  Tennessee  with  about 
50,000  men  to  take  care  of  that  country,  while  with  General 
Halleck  it  was  considered  necessary  to  have  over  100,000  men. 


50     PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

And  with  this  small  force  General  Grant  had  maintained  his 
line  of  communication,  had  fought  and  Avon  the  battles  of 
Corinth  and  luka,  and  was  at  that  time  moving  against  Price 
and  Pemberton,  who  were  known  to  be  superior  in  force  to 
General  Grant.  General  Grant  told  me  that  this  was  the  most 
anxious  time  of  his  service. 

When  Senator  Grimes  received  this  letter  he  was  so  pleased 
with  it  that  he  immediately  gave  it  to  Mr.  Fourney,  the  edi 
tor  of  the  Philadelphia  Press,  who  printed  it,  and  it  received 
considerable  comment. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  war  I  had  made  considerable 
use  of  spies  and  scouts  within  the  enemy's  lines,  and  had  ob 
tained  a  very  reliable  force,  mostly  Southern  men  living  in 
Northern  Alabama  and  Mississippi.  They  had  relatives  en 
listed  in  the  First  Alabama  Cavalry,  a  regiment  I  raised  while 
in  command  at  Corinth.  These  scouts  were  instructed  how  to 
obtain  the  number  of  troops  in  any  command,  company,  regi 
ment,  brigade,  division  or  corps,  and  I  placed  them  at  Chat 
tanooga,  Atlanta,  Selma,  Montgomery,  Mobile,  Meridian. 
Jackson  and  Vicksburg,  for  the  purpose  of  watching  the  move 
ments  of  the  enemy,  and  especially  to  report  any  force  that 
should  move  towards  Vicksburg,  and,  after  Vicksburg  was  in 
vested,  to  report  the  force  sent  to  Johnston,  who  was  moving 
an  army  to  relieve  Vicksburg.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  from 
their  reports  Grant  was  notified  of  every  movement  in  his 
rear,  and  he  ordered  reinforcements  from  the  North,  of  as 
many  men  as  were  sent  to  Johnston,  and  placed  them 
under  Sherman  on  the  Big  Black,  ready  to  meet  Johnston. 

These  secret-service  men  never  gave  a  larger  force  than 
30,000  men  with  Johnston,  which  was  about  the  size  of  John 
ston's  army.  These  spies  never  left  their  stations.  They  com 
municated  with  me  through  their  relatives,  often  through  their 
wives,  who  would  come  into  Corinth  to  see  their  relatives  in  the 
Alabama  Cavalry,  and  thus  throw  off  suspicion.  In  one  or  two 
cases  of  emergency  they  reported  directly  to  Grant. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 


General  Frederick  D.  Grant  tells  of  one  who  reported  to 
General  Grant  on  the  morning  of  the  Battle  of  Champion  Hill. 
giving  General  Grant,  General  Johnston's  position  and  force, 
and  General  Grant  said  he  could  attack  and  defeat  Pemberton 
and  reach  Vicksbnrg  before  General  Johnston  could  aid  or  rein 
force  Pemberton.  General  Grant  acted  on  their  information, 
and  speaks  of  it  in  his  dispatches  and  Memoirs,  and  as  I  take 
the  Rebellion  Records  and  read  my  dispatches  to  Hurlbut  at 
Memphis,  who  sent  them  by  boat  to  Grant,  I  am  surprised  at 
the  accuracy  of  the  reports  of  these  scouts.  Of  course  they 
were  often  detected  and  lost  their  lives,  but  there  were  always 
others  ready  to  take  their  places. 

I  was  furnished,  by  order  of  Grant,  with  all  the  money  I 
needed,  arid  I  noticed  one  case  where  I  had  used  $22,000  that 
was  turned  over  to  me  by  a  Quartermaster.  He  demanded  or 
iginal  vouchers  which  it  was  impossible  for  me.  to  give,  as  the 
seouts  would  not  sign  any  voucher,  and  he  would  not  take  a 
simple  statement  that  I  had  expended  the  money  for  the  serv 
ice.  I  explained  this  to  General  Grant,  and  he  sent  me  this 
order  : 

Vicksburg,  Feb.  26,  1863. 

General  Dodge  :  —  The  Provost  Marshals  in  your  district  will 
turn  over  to  you  all  moneys  collected  by  them  under  existing 
orders,  taking  your  receipt  therefor,  which  they  will  forward 
to  the  Provost  Marshal  General  in  settlement  of  their  account 
in  lieu  of  money,  and  which  you  will  account  for  as  secret-serv 
ice  funds.  Any  additional  funds  you  may  require  can  be  ob 
tained  by  requisition  on  the  Provost  Marshal  General.  All  sales 
of  cotton  confiscated  should  be  made  by  Captain  Eddy,  at  Mem 
phis,  Tennessee,  and  properly  accounted  for  by  him. 

Some  of  these  scouts  are  still  alive,  and  I  often  hear  from 
them.  Wherever  I  was  in  command  you  will  find  the  records 
full  of  dispatches  from  me  giving  information  to  my  superior 
officers  that  the  scouts  brought  or  sent  to  me.  When  these 
scouts  were  captured  it  was  our  endeavor  to  have  them  treated 
as  prisoners  of  war,  and  the  same  was  the  case  with  the  Con- 


52  PKUSONAL  RECOLIJECTIONS  OF  GKAXT. 

federates,  but  whenever  we  captured  one  of  theirs  they  would 
make  a  demand  which,  if  not  complied  with,  was  usually  fol 
lowed  by  a  threat.  Our  method  of  treating  such  occurrences 
is  indicated  by  the  following  communication  which  I  sent 
Colonel  Wood  : 

Corinth,  Apr.  3,  186:?. 
Colonel  Wood : 

Your  communication  of  April  1st,  by  flag  of  truce,  arrived 
at  my  lines  today,  and  in  answer,  I  have  to  say  that  James 
Neill  is  held  by  us  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  treated  as  such. 
How  you  obtained  such  information,  I  am  unable  to  surmise. 
as  there  is  no  foundation  in  fact  for  it.  Your  threat  to  hang 
two  men  for  one  is  given  its  proper  weight.  Our  Government 
never  hangs  men  without  good  and  sufficient  cause  (1  wisli  1 
could  say  the  same  of  yours),  and  when  it  decides  upon  hang 
ing  men  the  threats  of  Confederate  officers  count  nothing.  We 
have  no  fears  of  the  old  story  of  retaliation. 

THE  VICKSBURG  CAMPAIGN. 

As  soon  as  Grant  moved  down  the  Mississippi,  and  placed 
his  army  on  the  levees,  he  had  determined  in  his  own  mind 
that  bold  campaign  to  the  south  and  rear  of  Vicksburg.  Know 
ing  he  could  not  make  it  until  the  waters  fell  in  April  and 
May,  he  utilized  the  time  and  kept  his  troops  busy  in  several 
plans  for  passing  Vicksburg,  or  by  using  the  Yazoo  tributaries 
to  make  a  landing  to  the  north  and  east  of  Vicksburg.  He 
had  very  little  faith  in  these  projects,  although  they  tended 
to  confuse  the  enemy  and  mislead  them  as  to  his  real  plan  of 
campaign.  He  kept  his  own  counsel  as  to  his  plan,  knowing 
it  would  receive  no  support  in  Washington,  but  probably  draw 
forth  an  order  prohibiting  it,  and  also  receive  criticism  from 
all  military  sources,  as  the  plan  was  an  absolute  violation  of 
all  the  rules  and  practices  of  war,  as  it  virtually  placed  his 
entire  command  at  the  mercy  of  the  enemy,  cutting  loose  from 
all  the  bases  of  support  and  supply,  and  that  he  must  take  with 
him  all  the  rations  and  ammunition  he  would  use  in  the  cam 
paign.  Nevertheless,  he  never  hesitated,  though  urged  to 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GIIAXT.  53 

abandon  it  by  Sherman,  and  all  of  his  ablest  Generals.  Grant 
says  he  was  induced  to  adopt  the  plan  first,  on  account  of  the 
political  situation,  which  was,  threatening,  the  anti-war  element 
hoping  to  carry  the  elections,  and  the  Confederates  were  forc 
ing  our  troops  as  far  or  further  north  than  they  were  when  the 
war  commenced;  that  to  abandon  his  campaign  and  return  to 
Memphis,  the  nearest  point  from  which  he  could  make  the  cam 
paign  by  land  and  have  a  base  and  railroad  from  it,  would  be 
very  disheartening  to  the  Government  and  the  people. 

Grant  ran  the  batteries  and  landed  his  forces  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  faced  the  enemy  with  less  men  than  they 
had,  and  in  the  entire  campaign,  when  he  planted  himself  in  the 
rear  of  Vicksburg,  had  only  43,000  men  while  the  enemy  had 
()0,000.  In  comparison  as  to  boldness,  the  total  ignoring  of  all 
former  practices  of  warfare,  the  accepting  of  the  probability  of 
nine  chances  of  failure  to  one  of  success,  this  campaign  has 
never  been  approached  in  its  originality  and  the  wonderful 
grasp  of  its  possibilities  and  great  fighting  success.  Viewing  it 
from  this  standpoint,  it  cannot  be  compared  to  any  other 
known  campaign.  After  Vicksburg  the  Confederacy  was 
doomed,  and  Gettysburg  coming  at  the  same  time,  lifted  the 
nation-  from  the  slough  of  despondency  to  the  highest  point  of 
hope,  enthusiasm,  and  certainty  of  success. 

As  soon  as  this  campaign  was  over  Grant  wished  to  move 
immediately  on  Mobile,  but  that  fatal  policy  that  had  formerly 
scattered  a  great  army  and  relieved  Grant  of  his  command, 
was  renewed  here.  He  lay  quiet,  his  great  abilities  unutilized, 
until  the  disaster  at  Chicamauga  forced  the  Government  to 
again  use  him  to  retrieve  our  misfortunes,  and  again  snatch 
victory  out  of  a  threatening  great  disaster. 

I  will  give  you  an  object  lesson  which  shows  Grant's  idea 
of  duty.  'While  I  was  stationed  at  Corinth,  looking  after  that 
flank  of  the  army,  Grant  hammering  away  at  Vicksburg.  and 
Rosecrams  pounding  Bragg  in  Tennessee,  it  was  necessary  for 


54  PERSONAL  .RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

me  to  be  awake.  I  was  in  a  dangerous  position,  and  the  enemy 
could  have  destroyed  either  campaign  by  establishing  them 
selves  in  my  position.  I  wrote  Grant  at  Vicksburg  that  ! 
thought  with  12,000  men  I  had  I  could  penetrate,  by  the  Ten 
nessee  Valley,  to  the  rear  of  Bragg  and  destroy  his  communica 
tions  and  supplies  concentrated  in  that  valley,  and  force  him 
to  retreat.  I  received  no  answer  to  my  letter,  and  began  to 
think  I  had  made  a  fool  of  myself,  and  swore  inwardly  that 
it  was  the  first  and  last  time  I  would  ever  lie  caught  in  such 
a  boat.  A  long  time  (to  me)  after  the  suggestion,  General 
Oglesby,  who  was  commanding  that  district,  received  a  dis 
patch  from  General  Grant  instructing  him  to  have  Dodge  carry 
out  the  movement  suggested  in  his  last  letter,  and  that  was  all 
the  order  I  received.  I  marched  up  the  Tennessee  Valley,  de 
stroying  the  railways  and  stores,  which  the  Confederate  Gov 
ernment  estimated  to  be  in  value  not  less  than  $20,000,000.  Of 
course  Bragg  threw  before  and  behind  me  such  forces  as  lie 
could  spare,  so  that  the  rumors  which  reached  Corinth  were 
generally  that  1  was  captured,  whipped,  etc.  These  reports 
were  all  fired  into  General  Grant,  and  no  doubt  he  became  dis- 
guested  at  them;  but  he  finally  wired  in  answer  to  them  thai  : 
"If  Dodge  has  accomplished  what  he  started  out  to  do  we 
can  afford  to  lose  him."  That  settled  the  question;  they  sent 
Grant  no  more  rumors.  The  enemy  was  distracted  by  the  mov 
ing  out  from  my  column  of  General  Straight  and  his  mounted 
force,  who  had  been  sent  out  upon  his  celebrated  raid  by  Gen 
eral  Rosecrans.  Grant,  in  commenting  on  it  afterwards,  said  to 
me  that  he  knew  the  troops  1  had,  and  he  had  no  doubt  they 
would  be  heard  from  before  they  were  captured  or  destroyed. 
I  did  not  start  out  to  fight,  but  to  destroy,  and  he  thought  tin1 
distraction  of  the  movement  of  Straight  would  puzzle  the 
enemy  so  much  that  I  would  be  able  to  get  out  of  harm's  way 
before  they  could  concentrate  any  force  on  me  which  1  could 
not  whip. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  55 

General  Grant,  on  July  27,  1863,  at  Vicksburg,  wrote  a  let 
ter  to  the  War  Department,  asking  for  the  promotion  of  four 
Brigadier-Generals  to  Major-Generals,  and  nine  Colonels  to 
Brigadier-Generals,  as  a  reward  for  this  campaign,  stating 
they  had  all  rendered  valuable  service  in  the  field,  and  would 
fill  the  places  for  which  they  were  recommended  well.  Al 
though  I  was  not  directly  before  Vicksburg,  but  had  an  in 
dependent  command  upon  General  Grant's  flank,  he  placed  me 
at  the  head  of  the  list.  One  would  suppose  that  after  such  a 
great  victory,  such  a  recommendation  would  have  received  im 
mediate  attention,  but  it  did  not,  and  only  one  officer,  Colonel 
John  A.  Rawlins,  Grant's  Chief  of  Staff,  received  any  promo 
tion — he  was  made  a  Brigadier-General.  And  not  for  a  long 
time — not  until  Generals  Grant  and  Sherman  made  additional 
and  urgent  requests,  were  any  promotions  made.  Tn  my  case, 
General  Grant,  when  he  was  called  to  Washington  by  Presi 
dent  Lincoln,  made  it  a  personal  matter.  Right  after  the  Bat 
tle  of  the  Wilderness  he  urged  it  again,  but  it  was  not  until 
June,  1864,  during  the  Atlanta  campaign,  that  I  received  the 
promotion,  when  Lincoln  wired  Sherman  that  he  had  appoint 
ed  me  and  relieved  him  from  his  trouble.  I  was  a  Brigadier 
General  with  a  Corps  command  in  the  Atlanta  campaign, 
which  was  very  embarrassing,  as  there  were  Major-Generals 
in  the  same  army  commanding  Divisions.  President  Lincoln, 
when  he  promoted  me,  paid  me  this  very  high  compliment: 
"General  Dodge  has  been  more  strongly  recommended,  and  his 
promotion  more  persistently  urged  by  his  superior  officers  than 
any  other  man  I  have  made  a  Major-General." 

The  organization  of  the  Sixteenth  Army  Corps,  of  which 
Major-General  Stephen  A.  Huiibut  was  commander,  was  two 
wings,  the  right  commanded  by  Brigadier-General  A.  J.  Smith, 
which  was  in  the  field  in  the  Meridian  campaign,  and  in 
Bank's  campaign,  and  which  so  completely  defeated  Forest 
and  his  command;  and  the  left  wing  which  was  commanded 


56  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

by  Dodge,  which  was  in  the  field  with  the  Army  of  the  Ten 
nessee.  Hurlbut's  headquarters  were  at  Memphis,  and  his 
Corps  command  included  a  large  territory  to  which  he  gave 
his  attention.  Grant  was  dissatisfied  with  Hurlbut's  adminis 
tration  of  this  territory  and  relieved  him,  assigning  General 
C.  C.  Washburn  to  the  command  of  that  District,  and  ordered 
Hurlbut  to  Cairo,  but  didn't  relieve  him  from  the  command 
of  the  Corps.  Hurlbut  immediately  demanded  of  Sherman  to 
take  command  of  the  Corps  in  the  field.  Sherman  acknowl 
edged  his  right  to  this,  but  Grant  did  not  approve  of  it,  and 
ordered  that  Hurlbut  should  be  stationed  at  Cairo,  and  that 
Dodge  should  command  that  portion  of  the  Corps  which  was 
in  the  Atlanta  campaign.  Grant,  McPherson  (who  command 
ed  the  Armjr  of  the  Tennessee),  and  Sherman  (who  command 
ed  the  Military  Division),  all  urged  that  I  be  promoted  to  a 
rank  fitting  my  command,  and  this  is  the  explanation  of  Lin 
coln's  dispatch.  The  fact  is  that  after  three  years  of  war  the 
western  army  got  very  few  promotions  for  its  splendid  work. 
and  not  until  Grant  was  made  Commander-in-Chief  was  he 
able  to  give  to  his  subordinate  commanders  in  that  army  the 
rank  he  said  they  were  entitled  to. 

During  1863  General  Lorenzo  Thomas,  the  Adjutant-Gen 
eral,  had  visited  the  western  armies  and  given  officers  author 
ity  to  raise  negro  regiments  at  Corinth.  I  had  officered  and 
mustered  in  two  regiments.  Grant  had  not  made  known  his 
views,  although  he  gave  every  facility  to  officers  recruiting 
these  regiments,  but  on  August  9th,  1863,  General  Grant  wired 
President  Lincoln  from  Vicksburg  as  follows : 

General  Thomas  has  gone  again  to  the  Mississippi  Val 
ley  with  a  view  of  raising  colored  troops.  I  have  no  reason  to 
doubt  you  are  doing  Avhat  you  reasonably  can  upon  the  same 
subject.  I  believe  it  is  a  source  which,  if  vigorously  applied 
now,  will  soon  close  this  conflict.  It  works  double — in  weak 
ening  the  enemy  and  strengthening  us.  We  were  not  fully 
ready  for  it  until  the  river  was  open;  now  I  think  at  least 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GUANT.  57 

100,000  men  ought  to  be  placed  along  its  shores,  relieving  all 
white  troops  to  serve  elsewhere. 

Right  after  the  Vieksburg  campaign  General  Grant  pro 
posed  occupying  the  Rio  Grande  frontier,  because  the  French 
had  entered  Mexico,  and  to  use  immediately  the  rest  of  his 
army  to  capture  Mobile  and  move  on  Montgomery  and  Selma, 
Alabama,  and  perhaps  Atlanta,  Georgia,  using  the  Alabama 
River  from  Mobile  to  supply  his  column;  but  again  his  great 
victorious  army  was  scattered.  Parke,  with  the  Ninth  Corps, 
was  returned  to  East  Tennessee,  and  Sherman,  with  the  Fif 
teenth  Corps,  was  started  from  Memphis  to  march  along  the 
Memphis  &  Charleston  Railway  to  the  Tennessee  River,  and 
up  that  river  slowly,  evidently  for  the  purpose  of  being  in  po 
sition  to  aid  Rosecrans  in  his  campaign  against  Bragg. 

CHATTANOOGA. 

Right  after  the  Battle  of  Chicamaugua  and  the  concentra 
tion  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  in  Chattanooga,  the  dis 
patches  of  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  Charles  A.  Dana, 
who  was  in  Chattanooga,  greatly  alarmed  the  authorities  in 
Washington,  and  at  a  conference  it  was  decided  to  at  once 
place  that  army  in  General  Grant's  command,  and  the  Military 
Division  of  the  Mississippi  was  organized,  which  virtually  in 
cluded  all  the  territory  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  General 
Grant  was  placed  in  command  of  it,  and  proceeded  immediate 
ly  to  Chattanooga.  In  ten  days  he  placed  a  starving  army  on 
a  safe  basis,  had  opened  its  cracker  line  and  was  forming  his 
plans  to  attack  Bragg.  Sherman,  who  was  marching  from  the 
Mississippi  east,  was  ordered  to  drop  everything  and  march 
to  Chattanooga.  Sherman  had  commanded  the  Fifteenth  Army 
Corps,  but  now  took  Grant's  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  and  moved  rapidly  east  with  the  Fifteenth  Army 
Corps,  then  commanded  by  Frank  P.  Blair,  and  the  left  wing 
of  the  Sixteenth  Corps  commanded  by  Dodge.  On  November 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 


5th  Grant  ordered  Sherman  to  leave  Dodge's  command  at 
Athens,  Alabama,  to  rebuild  the  Nashville  &  Decatur  Railroad, 
which  he  said  was  necessary  for  him  to  have  to  feed  his  army. 
He  said  in  his  letter : 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  leave  any  part  of  your  army  to 
guard  roads,  and  particularly  not  Dodge,  who  has  been  kept 
continuously  on  such  work. 

There  was  a  combination  of  conditions  at  Chattanooga  that 
rendered  it  necessary  for  Grant  to  fight  at  once.  As  Long- 
street  had  left  Bragg 's  front  for  the  purpose  of  whipping 
Burnside  at  Knoxville,  the  authorities  in  Washington  were 
greatly  disturbed  at  the  fear  of  losing  East  Tennessee,  which 
was  almost  unanimously  Union  in  its  sentiment,  and  dispatches 
were  continuously  coming  to  Grant  from  Washington  to  go 
to  the  aid  of  Burnside.  Grant's  answer  was  that  lie  would 
fight  as  soon  as  Sherman  got  up,  and  that  that  in  effect  would 
.relieve  Burnside.  On  November  21st  Grant  wired  to  Halleck  : 

I  have  never  felt  such  restlessness  before  as  I  have  at  the 
condition  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland. 

Sherman,  himself,  reached  Chattanooga  on  November  17th. 
his  force  arrived  on  November  26th,  and  the  battle  was  im 
mediately  fought.  Right  in  the  midst  of  the  battle  Lincoln 
wired  Grant  not  to  forget  Burnside.  Grant  wired:  "F  will 
start  Granger  this  evening  to  Burnside 's  relief." 

Grant  followed  the  enemy  to  Ringgold,  and  stayed  over 
night  at  Graysville  with  Sheridan,  and  returned  to  Chatta 
nooga  on  the  evening  of  the  28th.  He  says: 

I  found  Granger  had  not  got  off,  nor  did  he  have  the 
number  of  men  I  had  directed.  He  moved  with  reluctance  and 
complaint,  and  I  therefore  determined,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  two  Divisions  of  Sherman 's  army  had  marched  from 
Memphis  and  gone  into  battle  immediately  on  their  arrival  at 
Chattanooga,  to  send  him  with  his  command.  Granger's  or 
der  was  to  accompany  him. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  UK  ANT.  59 

Sherman's  troops  were  not  fit  to  make  this  march  to 
Knoxville.  They  Avere  without  clothes,  shoes,  blankets,  or 
overcoats,  and  Grant  wrote  to  him  as  follows  : 

Chattanooga,  November  29th,  1863. 
Major-General  William  T.  Sherman: 

News  is  received  from  Knoxville  to  the  morning  of  the  27th. 
At  that  time  the  place  was  invested,  but  the  attack  on  it  was 
not  vigorous — Longstreet  evidently  having  determined  to 
starve  the  garrison  out.  Granger  is  on  the  way  to  Burnside's 
relief,  but  I  have  lost  all  faith  in  his  energy  and  capacity  to 
manage  an  expedition  of  the  importance  of  this  one.  T  am 
inclined  to  think,  therefore,  that  I  shall  have  to  send  you. 

Push  as  rapidly  as  you  can  to  the  Hiwassee  and  determine 
for  yourself  what  force  to  take  with  you  from  that  point. 
Granger  has  his  Corps  with  him,  from  which  you  will  select  in 
conjunction  with  the  forces  you  now  have  with  you.  In  plain 
words,  you  will  assume  command  of  all  the  forces  now  moving 
up  the  Tennessee,  including  the  garrison  at  Kingston,  and 
from  that  force  organize  what  you  deem  proper  to  relieve 
Burnside.  The  balance  send  back  to  Chattanooga. 

Granger  has  a  boat  loaded  with  provisions,  which  you  can 
issue  and  return  the  boat.  I  will  have  another  loaded  to  follow 
you.  Subsist  off  the  country  all  you  can,  and  use  the  rations, 
of  course,  but  as  sparingly  as  possible. 

It  is  expected  that  Foster  is  moving  by  this  time  from  Cum 
berland  Gap  on  Knoxville.  I  do  not  know  what  force  he  has 
with  him,  but  presume  it  will  range  from  4,500  to  5,000.  I 
leave  this  matter  to  you,  knowing  that  you  will  do  better  act 
ing  upon  your  discretion  than  you  could  trammeled  with  in 
structions.  I  will  only  add  that  the  last  advices  from  Bnrn- 
sicle,  himself,  indicated  his  ability  to  hold  out  rations  only  to 
about  the  3d  of  December. 

D.  S.  GRANT,  Major-General. 

Sherman's  movement  with  Granger's  Corps  of  the  Army  of 
the  Cumberland  saved  Knoxville,  as  Longstreet  had  it  invest 
ed.  Sherman  proposed  to  Burnside  that  Longstreet  be  driven 
out  of  Tennessee,  but  Burnside  thought  that  he  could  do  it 
without  using  Sherman's  force.  He  thought  that  Longstreet 
would  either  get  out  of  East  Tennessee  or  return  to  Bragg 's 
army,  but  was  mistaken,  and  this  mistake  caused  a  great  deal 
of  trouble,  and  was  one  of  the  main  reasons  that  prevented 


60  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

Grant's  comprehensive  campaign  for  the  winter  of  1864.  Long- 
street  remained  in  East  Tennessee  until  spring,  and  was  the 
cause  of  continual  anxiety  in  Washington  and  at  Knoxville. 
Grant  said  that  it  was  a  great  mistake,  and  greatly  regretted 
that  he  did  not  insist  upon  their  fighting  Longstreet,  and  forc 
ing  him  to  retreat  from  East  Tennessee  when  the  movement  was 
first  made. 

During  this  time  my  forces  wTere  stretched  from  near  Nash 
ville  to  Decatur,  Alabama,  guarding  and  rebuilding  the  rail 
road,  and  holding  the  north  side  of  the  Tennessee  River  from 
Eastport  to  Decatur,  over  one  hundred  miles,  and  the  only 
possible  way  to  protect  my  line  and  continue  the  work  was  to 
assume  the  offensive  against  the  enemy  and  keep  them  busy, 
which  I  did  by  mounting  regiments  of  Infantry,  and  using 
what  Cavalry  Grant  could  send  me.  The  record  of  the  wrin- 
ter's  work  is  full  of  remarkable  fights  of  this  force  on  both 
sides  of  the  river.  Grant  was  in  continual  communication  with 
me,  as  Sherman  had  gone  on  the  Meridian  campaign,  and  often 
asked  me  if  I  could  maintain  my  position,  knowing  that  most 
of  my  Corps  veteranized  and  had  gone  on  furlough — stating 
that  if  I  needed  it,  he  would  order  the  Army  of  the  Cumber 
land  to  aid  me.  I  kept  my  scouts  and  spies  behind  the  enemy's 
lines  and  in  that  way  kept  posted  as  to  their  movements,  and 
they  never  got  to  my  lines  except  once  or  twice  while  my 
mounted  force  was  in  this  territory.  General  Grant,  in  his 
Memoirs,  describes  this  situation  far  better  than  I  can.  and  T 
copy  this  extract  from  them : 

General  Dodge,  beside  being  a  most  capable  soldier,  was 
an  experienced  railroad  builder.  He  had  no  tools  to  work 
with,  except  those  of  the  pioneers — axes,  picks,  and  spades. 
With  these  he  was  able  to  intrench  his  men  and  protect  them 
against  surprises  by  small  parties  of  the  enemy.  As  he  had 
no  base  of  supplies  until  the  road  could  be  completed  back  to 
Nashville,  the  first  matter  to  consider,  after  protecting  his  men, 
was  the  getting  in  of  food  and  forage  from  the  surrounding 
country.  He  had  his  men  and  his  teams  bring  in  all  the  srrain 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GUANT.  61 


they  could  find,  or  all  they  needed,  and  all  the  cattle  for  beef, 
and  such  other  food  as  could  be  found.  Millers  were  detailed 
from  the  ranks  to  run  the  mills  along  the  line  of  the  army. 
When  these  were  not  near  enough  for  protection  they  were 
taken  down  and  moved  up  to  the  line  of  the  road.  Black 
smith  shops,  with  all  the  iron  and  steel  found  in  them,  were 
moved  up  in  like  manner.  Blacksmiths  were  detailed  and  set 
to  work  making  tools  necessary  in  railroad  and  bridge  build 
ing.  Axmen  were  put  to  work  getting  out  timber  for  bridges, 
and  cutting  fuel  for  locomotives,  when  the  road  should  be  re 
paired.  Car  builders  were  set  to  work  repairing  the  locomo 
tives  and  cars.  Thus  every  branch  of  railroad  building,  mak 
ing  tools  to  work  with,  and  supplying  the  workmen  with  food, 
was  all  going  on  at  once,  and  without  the  aid  of  a  mechanic 
or  laborer,  except  what  the  command  itself  furnished.  But 
rails  and  cars  the  men  could  not  make  without  material,  and 
there  was  not  enough  rolling  stock  to  keep  the  road  we  al 
ready  had  working  to  its  full  capacity.  There  were  no  rails 
except  those  in  use.  To  supply  these  deficiencies  I  ordered 
eight  of  the  ten  engines  General  McPherson  had  at  Vicksburg 
to  be  sent  to  Nashville,  and  all  the  cars  he  had  except  ten.  I 
also  ordered  the  troops  in  West  Tennessee  to  points  on  the 
river  and  on  the  Memphis  &  Charleston  Railroad,  and  ordered 
the  cars,  locomotives  and  rails  from  all  the  railroads  except 
the  Memphis  &  Charleston  to  Nashville.  The  military  mana 
ger  of  railroads  was  also  directed  to  furnish  more  rolling 
stock,  and  as  far  as  he  could,  bridge  -material.  General  Dodge 
had  the  work  assigned  him  finished  within  forty  days  after 
receiving  his  orders.  The  number  of  bridges  to  rebuild  was 
one  hundred  and  eighty-two,  many  of  them  over  deep  and 
wide  chasms.  The  length  of  road  repaired  was  one  hundred 
and  two  miles." 

During  this  winter  my  command  was  in  the  Department  of 
the  Cumberland,  but  not  reporting  to  or  under  the  command 
of  any  officer  of  that  Department.  As  General  Grant  states,  1 
lived  off  the  country,  and  brought  upon  myself  and  my  com 
mand  the  complaints  of  every  rebel  from  whom  I  took  forage 
or  provisions.  The  charges  against  th«  command  when  they 
reached  me  were  appalling.  An  officer  of  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland  wrote : 

Such  disgraceful  conduct  has  never  been  known  in  this 
section  by  Federal  or  Confederate  troops.  Men  have  run 


62  PERSONAL  EECOLLEGTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

wild.  The  very  subsistence  has  been  taken  from  families.  I 
doubt  if  there  has  been  a  smokehouse  that  lias  not  been 
robbed,  protection  papers  are  ignored,  negroes  taken  and 
forced  into  the  army,  horses,  mules,  wagons,  in  fact  everything 
a  soldier  could  lay  his  hands  on,  have  been  taken. 

Grant's  answer  wrould  paralyze  an  anti-imperialist  of  today. 
He  ordered  the  arrest  of  the  officer  making  the  charge,  and 
placed  this  endorsement  on  the  papers : 

Colonel : 

Your  dispatch  of  the  llth  of  December,  1863,  to  Captain 
T.  C.  Williams,  and  one  of  January  16th,  1864,  to  Captain 
Polk,  together  with  Brigadier-General  G.  M.  Dodge's  explana 
tion  and  remarks  thereon,  have  reached  these  headquarters. 
Your  wholesale  attack  upon  General  Dodge,  a  gallant  and  su 
perior  officer,  is  uncalle'd  for  and  improper.  The  authority 
you  usurped  to  yourself  in  arresting  officers  acting  under  his 
orders  was  unmilitary  and  in  bad  taste.  The  whole  tenor  of 
your  dispatches  show  bad  temper  and  is  calculated  to  create 
hostility  of  feeling  between  troops  expected  to  co-operate  with 
each  other.  Enclosed  you  will  find  copy  of  General  Dodge's 
explanation. 

I  answered  these  complaints  by  referring  them  to  General 
Grant  on  February  4th,  1864,  saying: 

It  is  galling  to  any  officer  to  have  his  command  designat 
ed  as  mobs,  thieves  and  banditti,  and  have  these  sweeping 
charges  go  up  through  Departments  where  he  and  his  com 
mand  are  entire  strangers.  I  do  not  know  that  I  am  a  bandit 
when  I  forage,  subsist,  and  mount  my  command  out  of  a  coun 
try,  and  when  I  press  negroes  to  rebuild  railroads.  My  orders 
are  to  do  this,  and  I  consider  it  not  only  right  but  that  my 
orders  and  duty  require  it.  This  entire  country  was  full  of 
everything  when  I  came  here,  and  that  was  the  only  induce 
ment  to  Bragg  or  any  other  rebel  General  to  secure  possession 
of  it  again,  and  you  can  depend  upon  it,  he  will  never  turn  his 
army  towards  Middle  Tennessee  after  I  am  through  with  it. 
Subsisting  my  force  off  the  country  was  a  military  necessity. 
T  have  simply  obeyed  orders  and  feel  that  I  should  be  protect 
ed,  and  request  that  you  send  an  officer  of  your  staff  here  to 
investigate. 

As  soon  as  the  Chattanooga  and  Knoxville  campaigns  were 
completed,  General  Grant  wrote  Halleck  that  they  could  not 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  03 

make  a  Avinter  campaign  south  of  Chattanooga  on  account  of 
the  difficulty  of  the  mountain  region,  and  the  rainy  season, 
and  to  utilize  his  large  force  he  proposed  to  gather  up  a  suf 
ficient  force  and  move  by  the  Mississippi  River  to  New  Orleans, 
and  then  to  Mobile,  and  attack  or  invest  that  place,  capture 
it,  and  then  move  into  Alabama,  and  perhaps  Georgia — a  very 
feasible  operation,  as  he  could  have  water  communication  to 
Selme  and  Montgomery.  Sherman  was  to  march  from  Vicks- 
burg  with  5,000  men  from  Hurlbut's  command  and  McPher- 
son's  Seventeenth  Corps,  then  stationed  at  or  near  Vicksburg, 
east  to  Meridian,  destroying  the  railroads,  and  gathering  all 
stock  and  supplies  that  the  enemy  could  use,  and  join  Grant 
at  Mobile. 

On  December  21st,  1863,  I  was  called  to  Nashville  to  meet 
Generals  Grant  and  Sherman  in  relation  to  the  part  my  com 
mand  was  to  take  in  this  combined  movement.  I  was  to  take 
my  Corps,  the  troops  at  Eastport,  and  in  connection  with  Gen 
eral  W.  S.  Smith's  command  of  10,000  cavalry,  sweep  the  Ten 
nessee  Valley ;  then  to  the  Tombigbee  Valley  in  Mississippi,  de 
stroying  all  railroads  there,  attacking  any  force  of  the  enemy 
in  that  country,  then  to  Corinth,  and  then  return  to  Decatur, 
Alabama.  All  stock  and  supplies  were  to  be  taken  that  could 
be  utilized  by  the  enemy,  the  intention  being  that  the  com 
mands  of  Sherman  and  myself  should  destroy  the  railroads  and 
take  the  products  of  the  country  so  that  no  considerable  force 
of  the  enemy  could  remain  long  in  West  and  Middle  Tennes 
see,  and  Mississippi. 

The  fear  of  Lincoln  and  Halleck  that  Bragg  might  recover 
and  retake  Chattanooga  if  any  larger  portion  of  Grant's  army 
was  moved  from  there,  and  the  anxiety  of  Lincoln  and  Stanton 
for  East  Tennessee  while  Longstreet  remained  there,  though 
General  Foster,  who  commanded  East  Tennessee,  had  more 
troops  than  Longstreet,  caused  the  abandonment  of  all  this 
campaign  except  Sherman's  movement  from  Vicksburg  to 


64.  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

Meridian.  On  December  27th  Grant  started  for  Knoxville,  tele 
graphing-  Washington  he  would  force  a  battle  in  East  Tennes 
see  as  soon  as  he  arrived.  Thus  for  the  fourth  time  magnificent 
armies,  competent  to  go  anywhere  under  the  most  competent 
commander,  were  dispersed  and  scattered,  and  during  the 
whole  winter  virtually  accomplished  nothing. 

On  December  20,  1863,  Grant  moved  his  headquarters  to 
Nashville,  and  prepared  his  forces  for  the  spring  campaign. 
He  expected  to  make  the  campaign  to  Atlanta  himself,  and 
then  to  Mobile  or  Savannah.  There  is  no  doubt  Grant  had 
this  in  his  plans  for  his  spring  campaign  which  he  expected  to 
inake  in  1864.  Whether  he  indicated  it  to  anyone  I  do  not 
know.  However,  Sherman  evidently  had  it  in  his  mind,  for  as 
soon  as  that  army  fell  under  his  command  he  commenced  pre 
paring  for  the  Atlanta  campaign;  and  probably  both  of  them 
considered  it  a  proper  campaign  to  make,  and  Sherman  mmle 
it,  with  Grant's  approval. 

Prom  early  in  the  Rebellion  Grant  had  been  impressed 
with  the  idea  that  active  and  continuous  operations  of  all  the 
troops  that  could  be  brought  into  the  field,  regardless  of  sea 
son  or  weather,  was  the  proper  course  to  pursue.  The  armies 
in  the  East  and  West  acted  independently  and  without  con 
cert,  like  a  balky  team,  no  two  pulling  together,  enabling  the 
enemy  to  use  to  great  advantage  his  interior  lines  of  communi 
cation  to  reinforce  the  army  most  vigorously  pressed,  and  to 
furlough  a  large  number  during  the  season  of  inactivity  to  go 
to  their  homes  and  work  at  putting  in  crops  to  be  used  for  the 
support  of  their  armies.  Grant  says  that  he  therefore  deter 
mined  as  soon  as  he  was  in  command  of  all  the  armies — first, 
to  concentrate  the  greatest  number  of  troops  possible  against 
each  of  the  armed  forces  of  the  enemy,  preventing  him  from 
using  the  same  force  at  different  times  against  any  one  of  our 
armies,  and  to  continually  fight  the  enemy  and  destroy  his 
resources,  until  there  should  be  nothing  left  of  him. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 65 

As  soon  as  Grant  assumed  command  of  all  the  armies,  lie 
commenced  concentrating  forces  for  the  two  great  armies, 
one  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  which  he  was  to  accompany  in 
person,  and  the  other,  Sherman's,  at  Chattanooga.  In  addi 
tion,  he  proposed  to  move  smaller  armies,  such  as  Butler's  at 
Fort  Monroe,.  Siegel  in  the  Valley,  Crook  in  West  Virginia, 
and  Banks  against  Mobile.  All  to  move  on  May  1st,  except 
Banks,  whose  defeat  on  the  Red  River  held  his  force  there, 
together  with  two  Divisions  of  Sherman's  army  under  Gen 
eral  A.  J.  Smith.  This  was  the  first  time  that  any  concerted 
movement  of  all  our  armies  in  the  field  was  attempted,  and 
it  prevented  the  enemy  from  concentrating  upon  any  one  with 
out  giving  us  some  strategic  advantage.  As  a  whole,  it  was  a 
great  success,  although  not  equal  to  Grant's  expectations, 
except  in  the  movement  of  Sherman  and  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac. 

Before  Grant  took  command  of  all  the  armies,  there  was 
promulgated  by  Halleck  a  maxim  of  war  that  two  battles  by 
two  different  armies  should  not  be  fought  at  the  same  time. 
An  officer  of  the  highest  rank  and  largest  command,  in  com 
menting  on  this,  said  that  if  our  Western  armies  engaged  all 
their  forces  at  the  same  time  it  would  leave  them  without  a 
single  reserve  to  stem  the  tide  of  possible  disaster.  This  pol 
icy,  of  course,  allowed  to  the  enemy,  holding  the  interior  lines, 
the  opportunity  to  reinforce  any  one  of  its  armies  and  at  all 
times  bring  an  equal  or  superior  force  against  any  one  of  our 
armies.  Grant's  plans  were  the  reverse  of  this,  and  his  orders 
to  all  our  armies  were  to  move  on  the  enemy  at  the  same  time 
and  keep  them  busy,  and  prevent  any  one  of  the  rebel  armies 
from  reinforcing  the  other,  and  it  was  this  policy  that  so  de 
pleted  the  enemy's  forces  that  within  a  year  they  were  defeat 
ed,  and  could  not  muster  force  enough  to  stop  the  movement  of 
any  one  of  our  armies,  and  brought  peace. 

Grant's  four  years'  experience  at  West  Point,  and  the  ac- 


66  PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

quaintances  there  formed,  and  in  the  Mexican  war,  gave  him 
a  knowledge  of  the  officers  on  both  sides  in  the  Civil  War,  and 
while  many  people  clothed  Lee  and  Johnston  with  almost 
superhuman  ability,  Grant  says  he  knew  they  were  mortal, 
and  that  it  was  just  as  well  that  he  felt  this.  In  the  beginning 
of  the  Civil  War  he  believed,  with  many  others,  that  the  war 
would  be  over  in  ninety  days,  until  after  the  Battle  of  Shiloh. 
He  has  often  said  that  there  should  have  been  no  more 
battles  in  the  West  after  the  capture  of  Donelson,  if  all  troops 
in  that  region  had  been  under  a  single  commander  who  could 
have  followed  up  that  victory.  They  could  have  occupied 
Nashville,  Chattanooga,  Corinth,  Memphis  and  Vicksburg,  and 
other  Southern  points,  prohibiting  the  enemy  from  concentrat 
ing,  and  virtually  capturing  and  occupying  the  entire  West. 

In  the  general  combination  that  Grant  formed  for  the  move 
ment  of  all  armies  on  May  1st,  1864,  he  did  not  make  any  pro 
vision  for  the  troops  in  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
on  account  of  Banks'  failure  in  the  campaign  up  the  Red  River, 
which  eliminated  40,000  men.  There  had  been  a  great  deal  of 
friction  there  because  there  were  three  parts  of  three  depart 
ments,  and  no  concerted  action,  which  was  a  source  of  great 
annoyance  to  Sherman.  There  was  also  a  lack  of  concert  of 
action  with  the  troops  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi  in 
defending  that  river.  On  March  28th,  1864,  Grant  recom 
mended  that  all  the  country  embraced  in  the  departments  of 
Kansas,  Missouri,  Arkansas,  and  the  Gulf,  should  be  formed 
into  a  Military  Division,  and  of  the  four  commanders  west  of 
the  river  he  considered  Steele  would  be  far  the  best  to  assume 
this  command,  but  he  said:  "The  best  suggestion  I  could 
make  would  be  to  promote  Dodge  for  Steele 's  command." 

I  was  fully  aware  of  the  situation  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  as  I  had  commanded  in  Mississippi,  but  knew  nothing 
of  Grant's  suggestion  until  I  saw  it  long  afterwards  in  the 
records.  No  action  was  taken  at  that  time,  but  later  on  these 
departments  were  placed  under  Canby,  Steele,  and  Dodge. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  67 

In  March,  1864,  General  Grant  was  called  to  Washington 
by  President  Lincoln  to  receive  his  commission  as  Lieutenant 
General,  and  his  assignment  to  the  command  of  all  the  armies. 
Mr.  J.  P.  Usher,  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  gives  this  account 
of  what  occurred : 

President  Lincoln  called  his  Cabinet  together  without 
giving  them  notice  of  what  they  were  called  together  for. 
They  assembled  in  the  Cabinet  Room,  and  there  were  present, 
Mr.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State ;  Mr.  Chase,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury;  Mr.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War;  Mr.  Wells,  Secre 
tary  of  the  Navy ;  Mr.  Blair,  Postmaster  General ;  Mr.  Bates, 
Attorney  General;  and  Mr.  Usher,  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

Upon  entering  the  room  of  the  President,  all  his  Cabinet 
were  present  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Stanton.  Soon  after 
the  arrival  of  Secretary  Stanton,  General  Halleck  and  Gen 
eral  Grant  entered  the  room  without  accosting  the  President, 
or  any  one  present,  but  moved  rapidly  to  the  far  side  of  the 
table,  and  stopped,  facing  the  table,  with  General  Grant  be 
tween  General  Halleck  and  Mr.  Stanton.  The  President  was 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  table. 

He  arose,  then  took  from  the  table  a  scroll,  turned  it  care 
fully,  then  opened  it  and  took  out  the  Parchment  Commis 
sion.  He  then  took  from  the  table  what  soon  proved  to  be  his 
address  to  General  Grant,  which  he  read  to  General  Grant. 

Then  upon  his  conclusion,  General  Grant  took  from  his  vest 
pocket  a  paper  containing  his  response  to  the  President.  Grant 
held  the  paper  in  his  right  hand,  and  commenced  reading,  hav 
ing  read  probably  half  of  it  when  his  voice  gave  out.  Evident 
ly  he  had  not  contemplated  the  effort  of  reading,  and  had 
commenced  without  inflating  his  lungs.  When  General  Grant 
commenced  reading  he  was  standing  awkwardly,  what  would 
commonly  be  called  "hipshot."  When  his  voice  failed,  he 
straightened  himself  up  to  his  fullest  and  be.st  form,  threw 
back  his  shoulders,  took  the  paper  in  both  hands — one  at  each 
end — and  drew  the  paper  up  to  proper  reading  distance  and 
commenced  again  at  the  beginning,  and  read  it  through  in  a 
full,  strong  voice. 

Colonel  Fred  Grant,  who  was  with  his  father,  says :  ' '  The 
papers  were  prepared  the  evening  before  by  both  the  President 
and  General  Grant." 

After  it  was  read  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  were  intro 
duced  to  General  Grant.  None  of  the  members  of  the  Cabinet 


68 PERSONAL  EECOLLEGTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

had  met  him  before.  Mr.  Lincoln  said  to  General  Grant:  "1 
have  never  met  you  before." 

General  Grant  replied:  "Yes,  you  have.  I  heard  you  in 
your  debate  with  Douglass  at  Freeport,  and  was  then  intro 
duced  to- you.  Of  course,  I  could  not  forget  you,  neither  could 
I  expect  you  to  remember  me,  because  multitudes  were  intro 
duced  to  you  on  that  occasion." 

President  Lincoln  said:  "That  is  so,  and  I  don't  think  I 
could  be  expected  to  remember  all." 

Mr.  Usher  said : 

Up  to  that  time  none  of  us  had  had  any  personal  acquaint 
ance  with  General  Grant.  We  had  heard  of  him  from  the  Bat 
tle  of  Pittsburg  Landing  to  the  Battle  of  luka  and  Corinth. 
The  reports  were  as  often  disparaging  as  they  were  favora 
ble. 

General  Grant  never  sent  anyone  to  propitiate  or  make 
favor  with  the  President".  After  the  Battle  of  Corinth,  Judge 
Dicky,  Judge  of  the  Southern  Court  of  Alabama,  and  a  per 
sonal  friend  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  came  to  Washington  from  Grant's 
camp,  and  gave  such  favorable  account  of  him  as  gained  Mr. 
Lincoln's  fullest  confidence  in  Grant's  abilities  and  his  confi 
dence  was  never  broken,  nor  in  the  least  abated. 

Secretary  Usher  says:  "I  heard  Mr.  Lincoln  on  one  occa 
sion  say:  ' Grant  is  the  most  extraordinary  man  in  command 
that  I  know  of.  I  heard  nothing  direct  from  him  and  wrote 
hifli  to  know  why,  and  whether  I  could  do  anything  to  pro 
mote  his  success,  and  Grant  replied  that  he  had  tried  to  do  the 
best  he  could  writh  what  he  had,  that  he  believed  that  if  he 
had  more  men  and  arms  he  could  use  them  to  good  advantage, 
and  do  more  than  he  had  done :  but  he  supposed  T  had  done 
and  was  doing  all  I  could,  and  if  T  could  do  more  he  felt  that 
I  would  do  it.'  : 

Lincoln  said  that  Grant's  conduct  was  so  different  from 
most  Generals  in  common,  that  he  could  scarcely  comprehend 
it. 


PERSONAL  .RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  69 

Secretary  Wells,  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  in  his  diary,  ex 
presses  his  opinion  of  Grant,  as  making  no  impression  in  his 
visit,  and  expressed  his  doubt  as  to  whether  he  would  be  suc 
cessful  at  the  head  of  the  army,  notwithstanding  all  of  their 
experience  with  him  and  his  success. 

When  General  Grant  received  the  appointment  of  Lieuten 
ant  General  and  command  of  all  the  armies,  he  wrote  this  let 
ter  to  General  Sherman  : 

Nashville,  Tenn.,  March  4th,  1864. 
Dear  Sherman  : 

Whilst  I  have  been  eminently  successful  in  this  Avar,  in  at 
least  gaining  the  confidence  of  the  public,  no  one  knows  more 
than  I  how  much  of  this  success  is  due  to  the  energy,  skill  and 
the  harmonious  putting  forth  of  that  energy  and  skill  of  those 
whom  it  had  been  my  good  fortune  to  have  occupying  the  sub 
ordinate  positions  under  me. 

There  are  many  officers  to  whom  these  remarks  are  appli 
cable  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  proportionate  to  their 
ability  as  soldiers ;  but  what  I  want,  is  to  express  my  thanks 
to  you  and  McPherson,  as  the  men  to  whom,  above  all  others, 
I  feel  indebted  for  whatever  I  have  had  of  success. 

How  far  your  advice  and  assistance  have  been  of  help  to 
me  you  know.  How  far  your  execution  of  whatever  has  been 
given  you  to  do  entitles  you  to  the  reward  I  am  receiving,  you 
cannot  know  as  well  as  I. 

I  feel  all  the  gratitude  this  letter  would  express,  giving  it 
the  most  flattering  construction. 

The  word  "you"  I  use  in  the  plural,  intending  it  for  Mc 
Pherson  also.  I  should  write  him,  and  will  some  day,  but 
starting  in  the  morning,  I  do  not  know  that  T  will  have  time 
just  now.  Your  Friend, 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Major-General. 

General  Grant,  after  his  return  from  Washington,  where 
he  received  his  commission  as  Lieutenant  General,  and  the 
command  of  all  the  armies,  from  President  Lincoln,  called  the 
Army  and  Corps  commanders  in  the  West  to  meet  him  in  Nash 
ville,  and  Sherman,  Sheridan,  Rawlins,  General  Granger  (com 
manding  post  of  Nashville),  and  myself  met  him.  Generals 
McPherson,  Logan  and  Blair  were  on  leave.  Why  Thomas 
was  not  there  I  do  not  remember.  Grant  told  us  of  his  visit 


70  PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

to  Washington,  the  conditions  upon  which  he  accepted  the 
command  of  all  the  armies — that  there  should  be  no  interfer 
ence  with  him,  and  that  the  staff  departments  should  be  sub 
ject  to  his  orders.  President  Lincoln  told  him  that  he  could 
not  transfer  that  authority,  but  that  there  was  no  one  who 
could  interfere  with  his  orders  but  him  (Lincoln),  and  he 
could  rest  assured  he  Avould  not. 

General  Grant  also  told  us  of  his  visit  to  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  and  what  a  splendid  Army  it  was — how  finely  equip 
ped  and  provisioned  as  compared  to  our  armies.  General 
Sherman  naturally  asked  him  in  relation  to  some  of  the  officers 
of  that  army  whom  they  mutually  knew,  and  General  Grant 
said  in  answer  to  him,  that  they  had  said  to  him  (Grant), 
"You  have  not  yet  met  Bobby  Lee,"  intimating  to  him  their 
doubts  as  to  his  ability  to  wTin  the  same  victories  there  as  he 
had  won  in  the  West. 

He  also  laid  down  his  own  plans  for  the  coming  campaign, 
that  is,  that  every  armed  force  on  the  London  side  should  meet 
the  armed  force  on  the  enemy's  side  and  all  move  against  them 
on  the  first  day  of  May,  and  stay  with  them  until  one  or  the 
other  was  completely  destroyed,  in  order  that  the  enemy 
could  not  do  as  they  had  heretofore  been  doing — while  one 
part  of  our  army  was  engaged,  the  enemy  having  the  interior 
lines  could  reinforce  their  army  engaged,  with  forces  from 
their  armies  lying  idle. 

General  Grant  said  to  General  Sherman : 

I  expect  you  to  move  against  Johnston,  and  keep  him 
busy  and  keep  him  from  sending  any  of  his  army  to  aid  Lee, 
and  if  Lee  sends  any  of  his  force  to  aid  Johnston,  I  will  send 
you  two  men  to  his  one. 

General  Grant  was  also  anxious  to  take  with  him  some  of 
the  principal  officers  in  the  Western  Armies,  who  had  served 
under  him,  but  General  Sherman  objected  so  strenuously  that 
Grant  only  took  Sheridan  with  him.  Grant  left  that  afternoon 


MAJOR-GENERAL    GEORGE    G.    MEAD 
Commander  Army  of  the  Potomac,   1864 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  71 

for  the  East,  Sherman  accompanied  him  as  far  as  Cincinnati, 
Ohio.  Later  at  a  meeting  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  in  Cin 
cinnati,  Sherman  pointed  out  to  me  the  room  in  the  Burnett 
House  where  they  spent  the  night,  going  over  the  maps  and 
their  proposed  campaigns. 

We  all  returned  to  our  commands  to  prepare  for  the  move 
ment  on  the  1st  of  May,  while  Grant  took  up  his  headquarters 
with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  moved  on  May  4,  1864, 
across  the  Eappahannock ;  and  the  Battle  of  the  Wilderness 
was  the  result. 

The  fighting  was  so  desperate  on  the  morning  of  May  6th, 
when  Hancock  attacked,  and  the  enemy  broke  up  in  such 
confusion  that  had  the  country  been  such  that  Hancock  and 
his  command  could  have  seen  the  confusion  and  panic  of  the 
enemy,  Grant  believed  that  he  would  have  immediately  taken 
advantage  of  it  so  effectively  that  Lee  could  not  have  made 
another  stand  outside  his  Eichmond  defenses. 

Warren,  in  his  attack  here,  went  in  by  Divisions  and,  of 
course,  failed.  Grant  says  : 

Up  to  this  time  my  judgment  was  that  Warren  was  the 
man  I  would  suggest  to  succeed  Meade,  should  anything  ever 
happen  to  take  that  gallant  soldier  from  the  field. 

After  two  days'  fighting  at  the  Wilderness,  Lee  fell  back 
into  his  intrenchments,  which  convinced  Grant  that  Lee  was 
unable  to  further  continue  conflict  in  open  field,  and  he  there 
fore  determined  to  place  his  army  between  Lee  and  Richmond. 

SPOTTSYLVANIA 

Sheridan  secured  Spottsylvania  and  the  bridge  over  the 
Poe,  which  Lee's  force  would  have  to  cross  to  get  there.  Meade 
unfortunately  moved  Merritt's  force  holding  the  bridge,  which 
enabled  Anderson's  Division,  driven  out  of  the  woods  by  fire, 
and  which  had  been  ordered  by  Lee  to  move  in  the  morning, 
to  move  long  before  and  cross  the  bridge,  which  Merritt  would 


72  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

have  prevented,  had  he  been  allowed  to  carry  out  his  orders. 
As  soon  as  Anderson  arrived  on  the  ground  he  intrenched 
himself  and  thus  prevented  Grant  from  planting  his  army  be 
tween  Lee  and  Richmond,  which  was  the  object  of  his  move. 

Hancock,  in  his  attack,  carried  a  salient  point  of  the 
enemy's  works,  and  captured  Johnston's  Division  of  2,000  men 
and  twenty  pieces  of  artillery,  but  nevertheless,  the  enemy's 
resistance  was  so  effective  that  no  permanent  good  was  ob 
tained. 

Grant's  next  move  was  North  Anna,  and  Lee,  having  the 
inside  line,  got  there  first  and  intrenched  on  the  north  side  of 
the  stream. 

After  the  Battles  of  the  Wilderness  and  Spottsylvania  Court 
House,  May  13th,  1864,  Grant  recommended  Wright  and  Gib 
bon  for  Major-Generals ;  Carrol,  Upton  and  McCandless  for 
Brigadier-Generals;  Hancock  for  Brigadier-General  in  the  reg 
ular  army,  and  Meade  and  Sherman  for  Major-Generals  in  the 
regular  army. 

General  Grant  wrote : 

In  making  these  recommendations,  I  do  not  wish  the 
claim  of  General  G.  M.  Dodge  for  promotion  overlooked,  and 
recommend  that  his  promotion  be  sent  in  at  same  time. 

COLD  HARBOR 

Grant's  finding  the  enemy  on  the  North  Anna,  moved  to 
Hanover  Court  House,  and  Sheridan  with  the  Sixth  Corps, 
pushed  on  and  captured  Cold  Harbor.  As  soon  as  the  rest  of 
the  army  arrived  they  attacked  the  enemy  and  drove  them 
back,  capturing  their  first  line  of  works.  The  enemy  made 
several  attacks  to  retake  these  works,  but  failed,  and  suffered 
great  loss.  On  June  3d  the  great  attack  on  the  enemy's  works 
was  made  by  order  of  General  Grant,  with  great  loss,  while 
the  enemy's  loss  was  comparatively  small,  the  only  battle  in 
the  campaign  in  which  Grant  says  we  did  not  inflict  as  great 
loss  upon  the  enemy  as  our  own.  Grant  regretted  this  attack. 
He  was  not  satisfied  in  his  own  mind  whether  it  was  a  proper 
one  to  make  or  not;  but  the  war  records  show  that  it  was 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 


this  attack  more  than  any  other  that  disturbed  the  enemy,  and 
if  he  had  persisted  in  a  second  attack  it  would  have  been  a 
great  success,  as  the  enemy  had  no  reserve  and  was  greatly 
demoralized.  The  campaign  up  to  this  point,  where  the  march 
was  taken  to  cross  the  James,  had  been  a  wonderful  one  of 
forty-three  days'  fighting,  showing  remarkable  endurance  on 
the  part  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  During  three  long  years 
the  armies  of  the  Potomac  and  Northern  Virginia  had  been 
confronting  each  other  and  had  fought  many  desperate  bat 
tles  —  more  than  it  had  ever  before  fallen  to  the  lot  of  two 
armies  to  fight  —  without  materially  changing  the  vantage 
ground  of  either. 

In  connection  with  this  short  campaign  Grant  speaks  high 
ly  of  Sheridan,  and  the  wonderful  fighting  of  his  cavalry. 

Siegel,  in  the  Valley,  had  moved  on  time,  but  Grant's  first 
dispatch  from  Halleck  stated  that  he  was  in  full  retreat.  It 
also  said  he  never  did  anything  but  run.  Crook  did  better. 
He  performed  his  task,  destroyed  the  Virginia  &  Tennessee 
Railroad,  and  burned  the  bridge  over  New  River.  Butler 
lost  his  opportunity  when  he  failed  to  plant  himself  on  the 
Richmond  &  Petersburg  Railway.  Butler's  first  move  was  a 
success,  but  he  waited  six  days  before  moving  on  Petersburg, 
which  enabled  Beauregard  to  collect  a  force  in  North  and 
South  Carolina,  and  entrench  them  in  his  front  at  Bermuda 
Hundred,  and,  as  Colonel  Comstock  expressed  it,  "bottled  him 
up." 

PETERSBURG 

As  soon  as  Grant  determined  to  cross  the  James  he  visited 
General  Butler  and  ordered  General  W.  F.  Smith's  Corps  to 
take  Petersburg.  Smith  confronted  the  enemy's  pickets  in 
front  of  Petersburg  before  daylight,  but  for  some  reason  did 
not  attack  until  late  in  the  day,  about  7  P.  M.,  when  he  car 
ried  the  enemy's  outworks,  driving  them  two  and  one-half 
miles,  capturing  fifteen  pieces  of  artillery  and  three  hundred 
prisoners.  There  were  no  other  works  of  the  enemy  between 
him  and  Petersburg,  and  nothing  to  keep  him  from  marching 
in  and  occupying  the  town.  Hancock's  Corps  had  arrived  to 


74  PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

support  him,  having  been  ordered  to  do  so.  Hancock  came 
up  in  the  evening  and  offered  him  any  force  he  desired,  not  as 
suming  command  himself,  as  he  did  not  know  the  situation. 
Smith  only  took  one  Division  from  him,  and  that  was  to  re 
lieve  his  own  troops.  It  was  a  clear  moonlight  night,  and 
Grant  felt,  and  always  said,  that  Petersburg  should  have  been 
taken  then  and  there. 

Grant  arrived  there  the  next  morning,  but  during  the  night 
the  enemy  had  brought  reinforcement  to  Petersburg,  and  were 
in  intrenchments  facing  Smith's  forces.  The  army  remained 
quiet  and  resting  until  the  attack  upon  and  explosion  of  the 
mine  at  Petersburg.  Burnside's  failure  to  clear  his  front,  as 
ordered,  and  failure  to  select  a  proper  Division  Commander  to 
push  through  the  crater  and  occupy  the  ground  beyond, 
caused  the  mine  disaster.  The  two  adjoining  Corps  had  cleared 
their  fronts  and  were  ready  to  charge.  Grant  had  great 
hopes  of  making  a  permanent  break  in  the  enemy's  lines,  and 
was  greatly  annoyed  that  it  should  fail  from  lack  of  proper 
management. 

General  Crook,  in  West  Virginia,  was  successful.  He 
marched  south,  and  his  cavalry  destroyed  the  New  River 
bridge,  and  joined  the  infantry  at  Union.  Siegel,  with  7,000 
troops,  marched  up  the  Shenandoah  Valley  to  New  Market. 
He  was  defeated  and  retreated  to  Cedar  Creek,  and  Grant  re 
lieved  him,  placing  General  Hunter  in  command.  Hunter  and 
Crook  unitedly  moved  to  Staunton  and  Lynchburg.  Had  they 
been  able  to  capture  Lynchburg  it  would  have  been  a  very 
damaging  blow  to  Lee.  Hunter  fought  and  defeated  the  enemy 
at  Piedmont,  but  retreated  from  Lynchburg  after  partially  in 
vesting  it,  for  want  of  ammunition.  His  movement  was  a  suc 
cess. 

Soon  afterwards  Early  defeated  our  forces  in  the  Shenan 
doah  Valley.  Grant  wanted  to  send  Sheridan  there,  but  there 
was  great  opposition  to  that  at  Washington.  He  finally  sent 
this  dispatch  to  General  Halleck : 

I  want  Sheridan  put  in  command  of  all  troops  in  the  field 
in  the  valley,  with  instructions  to  put  himself  south  of  the 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 75 

enemy  and  to  follow  him  to  the  death;  wherever  the   enemy 
goes  see  that  our  troops  go  also. 

This  was  disregarding  the  timidity  that  kept  a  large  force 
dodging  to  the  right  and  left  in  front  of  Washington,  for 
fear  that  the  enemy  might  otherwise  slip  up  and  capture  the 
city.  President  Lincoln  got  hold  of  this  dispatch  some  way, 
and  sent  this  characteristic  dispatch  to  General  Grant.  This 
is  a  very  important  dispatch  because  it  shows  that  Lincoln  had 
absolutely  lost  all  faith  in  everybody  around  him  in  Washing 
ton.  He  telegraphed : 

You  are  exactly  right,  but  please  look  over  any  dispatch 
you  may  have  received  from  there  since  you  made  the 
order  and  discover,  if  you  can,  if  there  is  any  idea  in  the 
head  of  anyone  here  of  putting  our  army  south  of  the  enemy 
or  of  following  him  to  the  death  in  any  direction.  I  repeat  to 
you,  it  will  neither  be  done  nor  attempted  unless  you  watch 
it  every  hour  and  day,  and  enforce  it. 

Think  of  that  coming  from  the  President  of  the  United 
States — with  everybody  subordinate  to  him,  telling  General 
Grant  unless  he  goes  there  in  person  and  sees  that  his  orders 
are  carried  out  it  won't  be  done. 

The  trouble  was  the  dispatches  went  through  Washington 
where  they  had  a  semi-control  over  movements  in  the  Valley. 
On  receipt  of  these  dispatches,  Grant  went  immediately  to 
Washington  and  to  the  Valley,  and,  after  an  interview  with 
Hunter,  who  told  him  how  the  uncertainty  and  conflict  of 
orders  rendered  it  impossible  for  any  commander  to  accom 
plish  anything,  determined  on  Hunter's  request,  to  send  Sheri 
dan  to  the  Shenandoah,  with  orders  that  he  should  get  south 
of  the  enemy  and  follow  him  to  the  death,  and  to  sweep  the 
Valley  of  the  Confederate  forces.  Stanton  and  Halleck  object 
ed  to  his  placing  Sheridan  in  command,  stating  that  he  was  too 
young;  they  seemed  to  be  governed  by  age  instead  of  results, 
but  Grant  insisted  and  Sheridan  cleaned  up  the  Valley  for  all 
time. 


76  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

Sherman,  with  his  three  armies — the  Tennessee,  the  Ohio, 
and  the  Cumberland — over  100,000  strong,  moved  the  same  day 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  did,  and  made  that  wonderful  cam 
paign  from  Chattanooga  to  Atlanta  where,  during  the  entire 
time  from  May  5th  until  the  capture  of  Atlanta,  the  forces 
were  not  a  musket-shot  apart.  Grant's  letters  and  dispatches 
show  his  confidence  in  and  admiration  for  Sherman  and  his 
army,  also  of  the  short  but  wonderful  and  successful  cam 
paign  of  Sheridan  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  In  October  all 
armies  were  taking  a  rest  for  the  second  and  last  movement. 

In  October,  1864,  while  I  had  not  entirely  recovered  from 
my  wound,  received  at  Atlanta,  and  consequently  was  unable 
to  enter  at  once  upon  active  duty,  Brigadier-General  Rawiins, 
Chief  of  Staff,  invited  me  to  make  a  visit  to  General  Grant's 
headquarters  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  then  at  City 
Point,  with  a  view  of  consulting  as  to  a  new  command.  In 
response  to  the  invitation  I  made  a  visit  there  as  soon  as  I 
was  able,  and  remained  several  days,  making  myself  familiar 
with  that  army.  I  made  known  my  preference  for  the  West, 
and  so  informed  General  Grant,  although  the  command  they 
had  in  view  was  a  very  high  one. 

While  at  City  Point  I  lived  at  headquarters,  and  for  the 
first  time  came  in  continual  contact  with  General  Grant  and 
General  Rawiins,  but  I  had  yet  to  learn  what  personal  friends 
they  had  been,  and  how  many  kind  things  they  had  said  of  me. 

It  was  their  custom  to  sit  out  in  front  of  the  tents  around 
the  camp-fire  of  evenings  until  late  in  the  night,  and  a  free 
discussion  of  the  battles  and  movements  was  held,  which  gave 
a  better  insight  into  the  operations  of  the  army  than  could 
possibly  be  obtained  in  any  other  way. 

At  General  Grant's  suggestion  I  visited  the  headquarters 
of  the  various  Corps,  and  was  very  cordially  received,  but  I 
discovered  a  feeling  there  that  was  a  stranger  to  us  in  the 
West — a  feeling,  the  existence  of  which  seemed  to  me  to  bode 
no  good.  I  heard  officers  criticise  others,  and  make  comments 
upon  Grant's  strategy  that  sounded  harsh  to  my  ears,  for  I 
had  never  thought  of  criticising  an  order  or  an  officer.  I  had 
been  serving  in  an  army  where,  if  the  command  to  my  right  or 


PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 77. 

left  was  in  trouble,  and  I  had  a  man  out  of  the  fight,  I  was 
in  the  habit  of  sending  him  to  aid,  and  every  other  commander 
would  do  the  same  by  me,  seldom  if  ever  thinking  of  waiting 
for  the  order  of  the  army  commander.  McPherson  had  said  to 
us  the  night  before  the  attack  on  Kenesaw,  when  Logan  criti 
cised  the  order  as  leading  us  to  destruction,  "So  much  the 
more  reason  that  we  should  put  our  energies  and  hearts  into 
carrying  it  out,  so  that  it  shall  not  fail  on  account  of  our  dis 
approval,"  that  being  the  only  time  I  ever  heard  an  order 
even  criticised.  But  I  must  say  I  heard  it  in  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  and  anything  but  kindly  comments  by  one  comman 
der  upon  another,  and,  as  this  was  in  the  dark  days  of  the 
war,  I  had  many  misgivings  about  what  I  heard.  Rawlins 
had  won  my  confidence,  and  on  m'y  return  to  camp  in  the  even 
ing  I  used  to  tell  him  what  I  had  heard,  and  he  would  laugh 
and  say,  "General,  this  is  not  the  old  Army  of  the  Tennes 
see." 

General  Grant  talked  to  me  freely,  told  me  of  his  attacks, 
his  partial  failures  at  the  Wilderness,  Spottsylvania,  Cold  Har 
bor,  Bermuda  Hundred,  and  Petersburg,  and  what  he  had  ex 
pected,  and  without  saying  so,  led  me  to  think  that  someone  in 
each  instance  had  been  to  blame.  Finally  I  innocently  asked 
him  who  was  at  fault,  saying  that  with  us  out  West  someone 
would  have  lost  his  head  under  such  circumstances.  But  he 
quietly  answered,  without  showing  any  disturbance,  that 
"That  had  not  yet  been  determined."  General  Grant  ques 
tioned  me.  very  minutely  about  our  movements ;  also  about  the 
relieving  of  General  Logan  and  putting  Howard  in  command  in 
his  place  in  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  after  McPherson  was 
killed.  While  I  had  no  feeling  against  Howard,  I  think  I 
expressed  the  belief  that  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  expected 
that  Logan  would  be  continued  in  command,  and  while  I  think 
General  Grant  agreed  with  me,  he  did  not  by  hint  or  word 
show  me  that  he  disapproved  of  the  action  taken.  I  remember 
saying  that  I  thought  the  little  army  that  he,  Sherman  and  Mc 
Pherson  had  grown  up  from,  and  which  had  on  the  22d  of  July 
fought  its  battle  without  an  order  or  the  presence  of  a  super- 


78 PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.       

ior  officer  until  the  day's  fight  was  nearly  over,  certainly  had 
material  sufficient  within  it  to  command  it,  and  Logan  being 
its  senior  officer,  seemed  to  us  the  proper  man  to  take  it.  His 
answer  was  a  compliment  to  Logan,  but  he  said  that  ''Sher 
man  knew  best."  General  Rawlins  was  decided  in  his  disap 
proval  of  the  change. 

I  did  not  know  at  that  time  that  General  Grant  had  recom 
mended  me  for  the  first  vacancy  in  the  grade  of  Major-Gen 
eral  immediately  after  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  nor  was  I  then 
aware  that  it  was  at  Grant's  suggestion  I  was  given  command 
of  the  Sixteenth  Army  Corps  in  the  field,  although  only  a 
Brigadier-General  in  the  rank  with  Major-Generals  all  around 
me  commanding  Divisions ;  nor  did  I  know  that  he  had  recom 
mended  me  for  the  command  west  of  the  Mississippi  River, 
and  the  Department  of  Kentucky. 

I  was  informed  that  General  Butler  was  to  make  a  demon 
stration  against  the  enemy  north  of  the  James  River,  and  it 
was  suggested  to  me  that  I  should  go  up  there  and  witness  the 
attack  and  look  at  that  army. 

Accordingly  the  next  morning  I  took  General  Grant's  boat 
and  went  to  Butler's  front,  and  witnessed  the  attack  until  I 
concluded  it  was  a  failure,  and  noted  that  he  made  no  impres 
sion  on  the  enemy,  and  that  the  troops  seemed  to  go  in  a  half 
hearted  way  against  the  works  at  their  front.  I  returned  to 
the  boat,  supposing  the  fight  was  over,  and  went  back  to  City 
Point.  General  Grant  met  me  and  inquired  very  earnestly 
about  the  fight,  and  I  naturally  said  that  it  was  a  failure.  I 
saw  the  General  was  surprised,  and  as  it  was  about  9  P.  M. 
I  sat  down  by  the  camp  fire,  and  he  then  told  me  his  dis 
patches  indicated  a  great  success.  I  said  to  myself,  "I  guess  I 
will  hold  my  tongue,"  and  felt  that  I  had  evidently  not  seen 
the  best  part  of  the  fighting ;  but  I  saw  that  what  I  had  said  to 
the  General  was  worrying  him  and  he  wired  for  full  particu 
lars.  The  next  dispatch  that  came  was  an  evasive  one,  and 
was  intended  to  pave  the  way  for  receiving  the  dispatches 
which  came  pouring  in  rapidly  from  one  commander  and  an 
other,  until  at  last  the  General  spoke  up  to  me  and  said :  "You 


MAJOR-GENERAL    JOHN   A.    RAWLINS,    1865 


PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  79 

are  right,  General,  it  is  a  defeat  instead  of  a  victory,"  and  we 
turned  in  for  the  night. 

The  following  letters  from  Gen.  John  A.  Rawlins  speaks  of 
my  visit  to  Gen.  Grant  and  this  attack  of  Gen.  Butler  on  the 
enemies'  entrenched  line: 

City  Point,  October  12th,  1864.  General  Dodge  of  the 
Western  Army  is  here.  It  does  one's  heart  good  to  meet  one 
from  the  army  that  has  made  such  a  bright  record  for  its 
country's  honor  and  its  own  fame.  I  can  shake  the  hands  of 
these  veterans  and  heroes  with  something  of  the  thrill  of  joy 
and  pride  that  pervades  my  being  when  I  take  hold  of  the 
hand  of  my  own  dear  wife  after  months  of  absence. 

General  Quimby,  formerly  of  the  old  Army,  is  also  here. 
He  is,  however,  not  in  the  service,  having  long  since  resigned. 
Major-General  Doyle  of  the  English  service  is  here.  He  is  the 
least  English  and  most  American  of  any  Englishman  I  have 
ever  met.  He  sympathizes  with  us  in  our  struggle  to  maintain 
our  governmental  authority,  and  furthermore  he  believes  we 
will  succeed. 

City  Point,  October  17th,  1864.  General  Butler,  although 
acting  under  positive  orders  not  to  attack  the  enemy  in  forti 
fied  positions,  did  so  attack,  and  lost  for  us  fully  1,000  men, 
killed,  wounded  and  prisoners,  without  any  corresponding 
damage,  if  damage  at  all,  to  the  enemy.  I  am  free  to  say  I  fear 
the  continuance  of  General  Butler  in  command  will  some  day 
work  disaster  of  a  serious  character  to  our  arms.  But  General 
Grant  has  had  to  deal  with  such  men  from  the  beginning  and 
has  succeeded.  I  therefore  have  hopes  he  will  succeed  with 
this  one. 

As  I  was  about  to  return  to  my  Command  at  Atlanta,  Gen 
eral  Grant  suggested  to  me  to  go  by  way  of  Washington,  and 
call  on  President  Lincoln.  Of  course  I  acceded,  but  did  not 
then  clearly  understand  the  reason,  nor  could  I  easily  see  what 
I  was  to  call  on  the  President  for.  While  I  was  at  City  Point 
was  evidently  the  most  anxious  days  for  Grant,  although 
he  had  no  doubt  that  his  next  campaign  would  end  the  war. 
The  troops  coming  to  him  were  drafted  men.  I  was  told  that 
desertions  were  very  heavy;  that  as  high  as  1,400  had  left  in 
a  week.  Hancock  and  other  officers  were  becoming  discour 
aged.  Some  commanders  were  on  leave  of  absence,  and  it  was 
so  blue  around  there  that  one  evening  I  suggested  to  Rawlins 


80 PERSONAL  EECOLLECTioys  or  GRANT. 

that  it  looked  to  me  like  the  rats  deserting  a  sinking  ship.  I 
could  not  appreciate  the  feeling,  for  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
was  the  finest,  best  equipped  and  best  appointed  army  I  had 
ever  seen.  General  Ingall's  single  sample  depot  at  City  Point 
would  have  been  a  supply  to  one  of  our  Western  Corps. 

On  leaving  City  Point,  Major-General  Boyle  of  the  British 
Army,  accompanied  me  to  Washington.  He  had  been  down 
on  a  visit  to  General  Grant's  headquarters.  His  rank  in  the 
British  army  was  about  equal  to  that  of  a  Colonel  in  ours.  He 
was  a  fine,  soldierly-looking  man,  over  60  years  old.  He 
questioned  me  very  closely  all  the  way  to  Washington  as  to 
my  service  in  the  army.  So  young  a  Major-General  command 
ing  a  Corps  seemed  to  him  extraordinary,  and  he  made  compar 
ison  very  pointedly  at  the  table  on  the  boat,  very  much  to  my 
embarrassment. 

It  was  morning  when  we  arrived  in  Washington.  I  went 
to  the  White  House  after  breakfast,  really  not  knowing  what 
I  was  going  there  for.  In  the  ante-room  I  met  Senator  Harlan 
of  my  state,  who  took  me  in  with  him  to  see  Mr.  Lincoln.  The 
President  greeted  me  very  cordially,  and  I  said  to  him  that 
I  had  merely  called  to  pay  my  respects  on  my  way  to  join  my 
command;  that  I  had  been  down  to  General  Grant's  headquar 
ters  for  a  week  or  two,  and  got  up  to  leave,  when  the  Presi 
dent  asked  me  if  I  had  any  appointment  to  meet,  and  said  he 
would  like  me  to  remain,  as  he  wanted  to  talk  with  me. 
Accordingly  I  sat  in  his  room  while  he  disposed  of  the  crowd 
in  a  kindly  way  and,  after  the  door  was  shut,  he  saw  I  was 
embarrassed  and  instead  of  talking  to  me  he  took  down  a 
book,  saying  he  wanted  to  read  to  me  some  good  things.  I  be 
lieve  the  book  was  called  the  "Gospel  of  Peace,"  or  something 
of  that  kind. 

Many  years  afterwards,  after  a  conversation  with  General 
Grant,  I  sent  him  this  letter  relating  to  my  visit  to  the  Presi 
dent  : 

New  York,  Dec.  19th,  1884. 
My  Dear  General: 

I  was  not  aware  until  my  visit  to  you  on  Sunday  that  you 
were  writing  a  history  of  the  "War  of  the  Rebellion."  I  know 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 81 

of  the  articles  to  be  published  in  the  Century  Magazine.  Dur 
ing  my  visit  to  you  at  City  Point,  I  met  with  an  incident  that 
may  be  news  or  of  interest  to  you.  You  will  doubtless  remem 
ber  that  while  I  was  recovering  from  my  wound,  received 
at  Atlanta,  I  visited  City  Point  and  was  a  guest  at  your  head 
quarters  a  week  or  ten  days,  and  saw  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac  ;  was  up  to  see  the  battle  fought  on  the  north  side  of  the 
James,  and  brought  news  of  what  I  thought  was  a  defeat,  but 
which  your  dispatches  made  a  victory.  When  I  was  ready  to 
return  to  my  command  at  Atlanta,  I  met  orders  from  General 
Sherman  which  stopped  me  at  Nashville  and  ordered  me  to 
Vicksburg,  and  before  I  reached  that  command  you  ordered 
me  to  relieve  General  Rosecrans  in  command  of  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  Missouri,  with  a  view  of  taking  my  troops  to 
Thomas  at  Nashville. 

If  you  remember,  when  I  left  City  Point,  you  suggested  I 
should  return  by  Washington,  and  call  upon  the  President, 
and  sent  me  in  your  boat.  General  Rufus  Ingalls,  your  chief 
quartermaster,  and  Major-General  Cyrus  Boyle,  of  the  British 
army,  T  think  at  that  time  in  command  in  Canada,  was  with 
me. 

I  was  a  very  young  officer,  inexperienced  in  meeting  the 
world,  and  with  a  great  reverence  for  position  and  authority, 
hence  I  hardly  knew  how  to  reach  President  Lincoln  nor  what 
to  say  to  him  when  I  saw  him.  I  had  only  a  few  hours  to 
spend  in  Washington,  and  after  breakfast  I  went  directly  to 
the  White  House  where,  in  the  ante-room,  I  met  Senator  Har- 
lan  of  my  state,  who  took  me  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  The  President 
met  me  cordially,  and  asked  me  to  wait  until  he  had  dismissed 
the  crowd,  when  he  took  me  into  a  room  back  of  what  I  now 
know  as  the  cabinet  room,  took  down  a  book  which,  if  I  re 
member  rightly,  was  called  the  "Gospel  of  Peace."  It  was  a 
very  funny  book,  and  he  read  from  it,  and  I  laughed  heartily, 
until  he  made  me  perfectly  easy  and  at  home.  He  took  me 
down  to  lunch  and  pumped  out  of  me  everything  I  had  seen 
at  City  Point,  and  what  results  were  to  be  expected  from  the 
movements  there.  My  answer  to  him  was,  briefly ?>  I  had  no 
doubt  as  to  their  success.  In  detail,  as  I  remember  it,  my  an 
swer  was,  "You  know  out  West  we  believe  in  General  Grant. 
We  have  no  doubts.  Give  him  time  and  he  will  succeed;  in 
what  way  or  how,  I  don 't  know,  but  you  may  depend  upon  it 
he  will  succeed." 

Mr.  Lincoln  jumped  up  from  his  chair,  took  both  my  hands 
in  his,  and  said:  "I  am  thankful  to  you  for  saying  so  "  I 
was  a  very  much  embarrassed  person,  but  it  made  such  an 
impression  upon  me  that  I  never  forgot  it. 

After  the  war  when  General  Rawlins  was  with  me  on  the 


82  PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

plains  I  related  the  circumstances  to  him,  and  he  said  that 
the  pressure  and  complaints  at  that  time  at  Washington  was 
very  great. 

My  confidence  as  to  results  around  Richmond  came  from 
my  faith — not  from  what  I  had  seen  there,  and  from  the  fact 
that  all  of  us  who  had  long  before  driven  from  our  minds  any 
doubts  as  to  the  final  results.  I  well  remember  how  confident 
ly  and  enthusiastically  I  told  President  Lincoln  what  I  felt, 
but  could  not  give  him  a  fact  upon  which  to  prove  my  belief. 
When  I  arose  to  leave,  President  Lincoln  thanked  me  for  call 
ing  and  said,  "If  you  have  no  objections  you  can  take  my  good 
wishes  and  regards  with  you  to  your  army."  That  night  I  left 
Washington  more  annoyed  than  otherwise  that  there  should 
be  so  many  doubts  as  to  your  success. 

General  Rawlins  may  have  told  you  of  this  interview,  or 
it  may  be  new  to  you.  I  give  it  as  T  remember  it. 

Yours  truly, 

G.  M.  DODGE. 

The  purport  of  all  this  came  to  me  in  after  years  when  1 
found  the  anxiety  that  existed  about  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
and  the  existence  in  some  quarters  of  an  intrigue  against  Gen 
eral  Grant.  My  belief  in  him  knew  no  doubts,  and  it  never 
entered  my  head  that  the  President  wanted  faith,  and  I  think 
my  earnest  belief  and  faith  carried  me  beyond  proper  bounds 
in  expressing  it  before  the  President. 

When  I  left  General  Grant,  I  knew  that  neither  he  or  Gen 
eral  Sherman  considered  me  well  enough  to  join  Sherman 
in  his  march  to  the  sea,  but  expected  me  to  be  sent  to  Vicks- 
burg  to  take  command  of  the  troops  of  the  16th  Army 
Corps,  organized  there — the  two  Divisions  of  the  Sixteenth 
Corps  with  Sherman  having  been  turned  over,  one  Division  to 
the  Fifteenth  Corps  and  one  Division  to  the  Seventeenth  Corps, 
and  the  two  Divisions  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps  on  the  Mis 
sissippi  River  were  to  be  turned  into  the  Sixteenth  Corps. 
This,  with  such  other  forces  on  the  Mississippi  River,  were  to 
be  mobilized  and  the  movement  which  I  was  to  command  was 
to  be  made  against  Mobile,  in  concert  with  the  movement  to  be 
made  from  New  Orleans  by  the  United  States  Navy. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  83 

In  the  meantime  General  Howard  had  issued  an  order  re 
organizing  the  Sixteenth  Corps,  and  placing  Major-General 
N.  J.  T.  Dana,  who  was  a  stranger  in  that  department,  to  the 
command  of  it,  whereas,  Major-General  A.  J.  Smith  and  my 
self  had  had  command  of  the  two  wings  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps 
in  the  field  almost  ever  since  its  organization,  and  General 
Howard's  action  caused  a  great  deal  of  criticism  and  feeling. 

When  I  arrived  at  Nashville  on  November  3d,  I  found  an 
order  from  General  Sherman  for  me  to  proceed  to  Vicksburg 
and  report  to  Major-General  N.  J.  T.  Dana,  commanding  the 
Sixteenth  Corps,  as  commander  of  the  District  of  Vieksburg, 
and  left  wing  of  the  Sixteenth  Army  Corps.  General  How 
ard  wrote  me  a  private  letter,  giving  his  reasons  for  assign 
ing  Dana  to  the  head  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps,  stating  that  he 
had  three  Major-Generals  in  his  command — Dana,  Smith  and 
myself — for  assignment,  and  that  Dana  being  the  ranking 
officer,  he  had  given  him  the  Corps,  thus  ignoring  Smith  and 
myself. 

From  Nashville  I  went  immediately  to  St.  Louis  enroute  to 
Vicksburg.  At  St.  Louis  I  received  a  dispatch  from  General 
John  A.  Rawlins,  General  Grant's  Chief  of  Staff,  which  indi 
cated  General  Grant  was  not  satisfied  with  my  assignment, 
and  on  November  12th  I  received  a  dispatch  from  Colonel 
William  F.  Clark,  Assistant  Adjutant  General  of  the  Army 
of  the  Tennessee,  ordering  me  not  to  go  to  Vicksburg,  but  to 
meet  him  at  Louisville,  Kentucky. 

On  November  15th  I  met  Colonel  Clark  at  Louisville,  and 
he  notified  me  that  the  order  sending  me  to  Vicksburg  had 
been  suspended  at  the  request  of  General  Grant,  that  he  was 
not  satisfied  with  General  Howard's  reorganization  of  the  Six 
teenth  Army  Corps,  and  objected  to  my  assignment  under 
Dana — that  General  Howard  was  greatly  worried  over  it,  and 
that  by  order  of  General  Grant  I  had  been  ordered  to  St.  Louis, 
and  Colonel  Clark  handed  me  General  Howard's  order,  which 
read  as  follows : 


84  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

Major-General  G.  M.  Dodge  and  Staff  will  proceed  to 
St.  Louis  and  there  establish  his  headquarters  for  the  pur 
pose  of  making  out  reports  of  the  campaign  in  Georgia. 

1  returned  to  St.  Louis  and  on  December  2,  18(54,  received 
the  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  issued  at  the  request  of 
General  Grant,  assigning  ine  to  the  command  of  the  Depart 
ment  and  Army  of  the  Missouri,  relieving  Major-General  Rose- 
crans. 

lii  speaking  of  the  campaign  Sherman  was  to  make  from 
Atlanta,  Grant  says: 

General  G.  M.  Dodge,  an  exceedingly  efficient  officer, 
having  been' badly  wounded,  had  to  leave  the  army,  and  his 
two  Divisions  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps  were  transferred  to  tho 
Fifteenth  and  Seventeenth  Corps;  Sherman,  after  detaching 
the  Fourteenth  Corps  and  Schofi  eld's  army  to  Thomas,  had 
about  60,000  strong  and  hearty  men,  as  good  soldiers  as  ever 
trod  the  earth,  better  than  any  European  soldiers,  because 
they  not  only  worked  like  a  machine,  but  the  machine 
thought. 

As  soon  as  Grant  wired  Sherman  that  he  could  start  on  his 
march  to  the  sea.  he  naturally  felt  anxiety  as  to  the  move 
ments  of  Hood.  Grant  felt  that  Thomas  should  concentrate 
all  his  forces  except  those  occupying  Chattanooga  and  De- 
catur,  and  attack  Hood  south  of  the  Duck  River,  and  when 
Hood  moved  and  forced  Schofield  back  to  Franklin,  Grant 
naturally  became  anxious.  Schofield,  himself,  thought  that  a 
concentration  should  be  made  south  of  the  Duck  River,  and 
when  Schofield  fought  the  great  battle  of  Franklin  so  success 
fully,  and  Hood's  army  suffered  such  a  great  loss  in  officers 
and  men,  Grant  thought  that  Thomas,  with  his  70,000  men, 
should  reinforce  Schofield  from  Nashville  and  that  the  battle 
with  Hood  should  have  been  fought  out  there ;  but  Thomas 
thought  otherwise,  and  after  this  great  victory  Schofield  was 
obliged  to  fall  back  within  the  intrenchments  at  Nashville. 
Grant  then  became  more  anxious  than  ever.  He  knew  the  dis- 


I'KKSONAL   RECOLLECTIONS  OF  (IKANT.  85 


position  of  Hood,  and  was  fearful  he  would  cross  the  Cum 
berland,  flank  Nashville  and  move  to  Louisville,  which  would 
drive  our  forces  back  to  the  Ohio  River  again.  Grant's  anx 
iety  is  shown  in  his  dispatches  to  Washington  and  to  Thomas, 
and  he  finally  made  up  his  mind  to  repair  to  Nashville  him 
self.  He  sent  the  following  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  War 
on  December  8,  1864. 

Please  direct  General  Dodge  to  send  all  the  troops  he  can 
spare  to  General  Thomas.  With  such  an  order  he  can  be  re 
lied  upon  to  send  all  that  can  possibly  go.  They  had  better  be 
sent  to  Louisville,  for  I  fear  either  Hood  or  Breckenridge  will 
get  to  the  Ohio  River.  I  will  submit  whether  it  is  not  advis 
able  to  call  on  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois  for  60,000  men  for 
thirty  days.  If  Thomas  has  not  struck  yet  he  should  be  ordered 
to  hand  over  his  command  to  Schofield.  There  is  no  better 
mam  to  repel  an  attack  than  Thomas,  but  I  fear  he  is  too  cau 
tious  to  ever  take  the  initiative. 

On  this  order  I  sent  to  Thomas,  with  the  two  Divisions 
under  General  A.  J.  Smith  which  had  already  izone,  20,000 
men.  Grant  says  that  Thomas  had  70,000  men,  and  that  he 
had  enough  to  annihilate  Hood  in  the  open  field. 

On  December  15th  Logan  was  at  City  Point,  and  was  given 
orders  to  proceed  to  Nashville.  Grant  himself  also  started  for 
Nashville,  and  wired  me  he  might  want  me  to  take  command 
of  the  troops  I  had  sent  to  Thomas.  The  day  Logan  arrived 
at  Louisville,  Thomas  commenced  his  attack  on  Hood,  and  he 
proceeded  no  further.  Thomas'  complete  victory  over  Hood 
relieved  Grant's  anxiety,  and  he  immediately  sent  Thomas 
congratulatory  dispatches. 

Thomas,  while  a  great  soldier,  was  of  an  entirely  different 
disposition  from  Grant,  Sherman  and  Sheridan,  whose  great 
effort  was  to  always  be  the  attacking  party.  Grant  held  that 
this  gave  an  advantage  of  twenty-five  per  cent.  Thomas  pre 
ferred  to  wait  until  he  was  certain,  or  to  receive  an  attack  on 
his  own  chosen  ground,  and  in  that  way  destroy  tin* 
He  was  rightly  named  the  "'Rock  of  Chicamauga." 


8(5  PERSONAL  HE  COLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

Sherman 's  march  to  the  sea  was  a  picnic  for  that  old  army 
of  his.  It  caused  rumors  and  speculations  and  great  anxiety 
among  the  people.  The  rebel  papers  were  full  of  mis-state 
ments,  saying  Sherman's  army  was  starving,  demoralized  and 
wandering  without  objective  point,  endeavoring  only  to  reach 
the  sea ;  and  these  statements  alarmed  the  people  of  the  north, 
who  appealed  to  Lincoln,  who  in  turn  appealed  to  Grant,  and 
on  his  (Grant's)  answer,  Lincoln  in  response  to  these  appeals, 
said  .- 

Grant  says  they  are  safe  with  such  a  General,  and  if 
they  cannot  get  out  where  they  want  to  they  can  crawl  back 
by  the  hole  they  went  in  at. 

No  one  can  read  the  reports  of  the  final  movement  in  Feb 
ruary,  1865,  and  the  comprehensive  plans  that  first  destroyed 
all  the  railroads  surrounding  Petersburg  and  Richmond,  the 
combination  of  Terry  and  Schofield  at  Wilmington,  the  at 
tack  of  Canby  on  Mobile,  Wilson  on  Montgomery  and  Selma, 
Stoneman  from  East  Tennessee  towards  Lynchburg,  while 
Sherman  moved  on  Johnston,  Sheridan  on  Five  Forks,  and 
Meade  on  Lee,  without  perceiving  that  the  story  reads  like 
a  romance  rather  than  the  last  grapple  of  giants.  Every  move 
was  a  success,  and  by  April  15th  the  war  was  ended.  Grant 
says : 

It  has  been  my  fortune  to  see  the  armies  of  both  East  and 
West  fight  battles,  and  from  what  I  have  seen  there  is  no  dif 
ference  in  their  fighting  qualities. 

As  to  the  surrender  at  Appomattox,  and  of  Johnston  to 
Sherman,  Grant  tells  the  story  in  the  simplest  words,  that 
thoroughly  describe  the  man  as  I  knew  him  from  1862  until 
his  death.  He  said  : 

What  General  Lee's  feelings  were  I  do  not  know,  as  lie 
was  a  man  of  much  dignity  with  an  impassible  face.  It  was 
impossible  to  see  whether  he  felt  inwardly  glad  that  the  end 
had  finally  come,  or  felt  sad  over  the  result:  he  was  too  manly 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  87 

to  show  it.  Whatever  his  feelings  were  they  were  entirely 
concealed  from  my  observation,  but  my  own  feelings,  which 
had  been  .jubilant  at  receiving  his  letter,  were  sad  and  de 
pressed.  I  felt  like  anything  rather  than  rejoicing  at  the 
downfall  of  a  foe  who  had  fought  so  long  and  valiantly,  and 
had  suffered  so  much  for  a  cause  I  believed  one  of  the  worst 
for  which  a  people  ever  fought,  and  one  for  which  there  was 
the  least  cause.  I  do  not  question,  however,  the  sincerity  of 
the  great  mass  of  those  who  were  opposed  to  us. 

General  Lee  was  dressed  in  full  uniform,  which  was  en 
tirely  new,  and  was  wearing  a  sword  of  considerable  value, 
very  likely  the  one  which  had  been  presented  to  him  by  the 
State  of  Virginia.  In  my  rough  traveling  suit,  the  uniform 
of  a  private  with  the  straps  of  a  Lieutenant  General,  I  must 
have  contrasted  very  strangely  with  a  man  so  handsomely 
dressed,  six  feet  high,  and  of  faultness  form;  but  this  was  not 
a  matter  I  thought  of  until  afterwards. 

When  the  news  of  the  surrender  first  reached  our  lines 
our  men  commenced  firing  a  salute  of  one  hundred  guns  In 
honor  of  the  victory.  I  at  once  sent  word  to  have  it  stopped; 
the  Confederates  were  now  our  prisoners,  and  we  did  not  want 
to  exult  over  their  downfall. 

As  soon  as  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia 
was  completed,  General  Grant  went  immediately  to  Washing 
ton.  He  sent  Sherman  the  terms  on  which  Lee  had  surren 
dered,  and  authorized  him  to  offer  the  same  terms  to  Johnston, 
but  Sherman  added  other  conditions — political — but,  know 
ing  he  was  going  beyond  Grant's  terms,  he  made  them  condi 
tional  until  they  could  be  ratified  at  Washington.  Grant  says 
that  Sherman,  then  being  one  of  the  most  popular  Generals  in 
the  land,  was  later  denounced  by  President  Johnson  and  Secre 
tary  Stanton  in  most  bitter  terms.  A  message  was  sent  out  di 
recting  troops  in  the  South  not  to  obey  Sherman,  and  to  all 
commanders  in  the  country  not  to  recognize  his  orders  or 
paroles. 

Grant  was  ordered  to  immediately  proceed  to  North  Caro 
lina  and  take  charge.  Of  course  Grant  was  greatly  annoyed 
at  this  uncalled  for  denunciation  of  Sherman,  but  started  im 
mediately  for  Raleigh  as  quietly  as  possible,  in  hopes  of  seeing 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GHANT. 


Sherman  without  his  army  knowing  of  his  presence.  He  met 
Sherman,  gave  him  his  orders,  and  left  Sherman  to  communi 
cate  them  to  Johnston,  and  left  immediately  for  Washington, 
leaving  Sherman  to  negotiate  the  terms  of  the  surrender  sole 
ly  by  himself,  free  and  untrammeled,  and  without  the  enemy 
knowing  that  he  (Grant)  had  been  anywhere  near  the  field. 
Grant  says  that  as  he  returned  he  met  the  mail  with  newspapers 
and  found  in  them  news  of  the  great  excitement  in  the  North 
over  the  terms  Sherman  gave  Johnston,  and  the  harsh  orders 
promulgated  by  the  President  and  Secretary  of  War,  and 
says: 

I  fully  understood  what  great  indignation  this  would 
cause  Sherman,  though  I  do  not  think  his  feelings  could  have 
been  more  excited  than  mine. 

Where  is  there  in  all  history  a  story  of  such  magnanimity, 
not  only  to  the  enemy,  but  to  his  own  devoted  comrade  ? 
These  two  incidents  were  quoted  to  me  in  Europe  as  fixing  the 
status  of  General  Grant  as  a  great,  humane  soldier,  and  as  in 
dicating  the  elements  that  afterwards  created  a  great  states 
man. 

In  the  campaign  from  May  5th,  1864,  to  Appomattox,  the 
Armies  of  the  Potomac  and  James  lost  over  60,000  men,  killed 
and  wounded,  and  in  prisoners  and  missing  over  20,000 — a 
total  of  over  82,000.  This  indicates  the  desperate  fighting  and 
appalling  results.  Under  any  other  commander  it  would  have 
brought  about  a  halt  and  discouragement,  but  under  Grant  it 
simply  meant  more  determined  efforts.  He  knew  that  the 
enemy's  losses  were  as  great  as  his,  and  if  he  continued  on  the 
aggressive  sooner  or  later  he  would  win. 

His  determination,  after  Appomattox,  that  Lee's  and  all 
other  armies  should  be  protected  in  their  paroles,  is  illustrated 
by  his  visit  to  President  Johnson  when  Judge  Underwood  of 
Norfolk  proposed  to  punish  some  of  the  leaders  of  the. rebel 
lion,  notwithstanding  their  paroles.  Grant  demanded  that  an 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OK  GRANT.  so 

order  should  be  issued  prohibiting  such  an  act.  President 
Johnson-  was  obstinate  until  Grant  declared  that  if  it  was  done 
he  would  hand  in  his  resignation.  That  settled  it,  and  brought 
quiet  and  peace  to  all  the  rebel  forces.  This  action  of  Gen 
eral  Grant's  has  been  greatly  misrepresented,  for  on  Memorial 
day,  May  30,  1906,  accompanied  by  General  F.  D.  Grant,  his 
wife,  and  others,  I  attended  memorial  services  at  Grant's  Tomb 
in  New  York  City.  The  address  there  was  made  by  Judge 
Stafford  of  the  United  States  District  Court  of  Washington,  in 
which  he  made  the  -following  statement: 

Not  long  after  the  death  of  Lincoln,  Johnson  summoned 
Grant  to  the  White  House.  When  they  were  alone  he  said:  "I 
intend  to  fix  it  forever  in  the  minds  of  the  American  people 
that  secession  is  a  crime.  I  intend  to  have  all  Confederate 
officers  and  officials  put  to  a  public  death."  Grant  made  no 
reply  when  Johnson  had  finished  his  harangue,  but  rose  in  sil 
ence  to  take  his  leave.  "What  do  you  mean  to  do?"  asked  John 
son.  Then  Grant  said.  "I  am  going  to  the  camp;  I  shall  move 
my  army  upon  Washington,  I  shall  proclaim  martial  law 
and  take  command.  My  reason  for  doing  so  is  this :  I  received 
the  surrender  of  General  Lee,  which  ended  the  war.  That 
surrender  put  into  my  hands  the  lives  and  safety  of  every 
officer  and  official  on  the  Confederate  side,  and  T  hold  myself 
in  duty  and  honor  bound  to  see  that  they  are  protected  ac 
cording  to  the  rules  of  war  and  common  right."  Grant  re 
turned  to  his  camp,  issued  the  necessary  orders,  and  waited  for 
the  proclamation  to  be  made.  Then  he  received  the  word  that 
Johnson  had  changed  his  mind. 

This  was  such  a  remarkable  statement  in  which  there  was 
absolutely  not  a  word  of  truth  that  it  astonished  both  General 
Grant  and  myself,  and  as  soon  as  the  oration  was  delivered,  I 
went  to  the  speaker  and  absolutely  denied  that  there  was  any 
truth  in  his  statement. 

He  said  he  obtained  the  information  from  Admiral  Dahl- 
gren>.  I  was  in  hopes  no  notice  would  be  taken  of  it,  and  there 
fore  said  nothing  more  about  it.  But  the  Press  got  hold  of  it 
and,  of  course,  commenced  to  handle  it,  and  for  the  purpose 
of  showing  the  absurdity  of  it,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Society  of 


90      PERSONAL  .RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  at  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa,  on  No 
vember  8th,  1906,  General  John  C.  Black  called  the  attention 
of  that  Society  to  this  statement,  and  as  General  Grant  had 
been  a  prominent  member  of  the  Soceity,  asked  that  a  com 
mittee  be  appointed  to  take  the  matter  up  and  make  report, 
which  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  as  President  of  the  So 
ciety  I  appointed  as  members  of  that  committee,  General  John 
C.  Black,  General  O.  0.  Howard,  Major  V.  Warner  and  Mrs. 
John  A.  Logan. 

That  committee  reported  on  November  9th  as  follows : 

GENERAL  BLACK'S  REPORT. 

Council  Bluffs,  Iowa,  November  9th,  1906. 
To  the  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee : 

Your  committee  to  whom  you  referred  a  motion  made 
at  the  business  session  of  the  morning  of  November  8th,  that 
a  committee  of  three  or  more  be  appointed  to  whom  should  be 
referred  the  accusation  made  at  the  Tomb  of  Grant  on  the 
30th  of  May  last,  and  all  the  proof  accessible  and  bearing  upon 
said  accusation,  and  to  make  report  of  their  conclusions,  beg 
leave  to  report  that  they  have  examined  the  matters  referred 
to  in  said  motion  and  find  that  during  an  address  delivered  on 
Memorial  Day,  1906,  at  the  Tomb  of  General  U.  S.  Grant,  a  for 
mer  member  of  the  Society,  former  eommander-in-chief  of  the 
army  of  the  United  States,  and  former  President,  the  following 
statement  was  made,  in  substance  : 

Not  long  after  the  death  of  Lincoln,  Johnson  sum 
moned  Grant  to  the  White  House.  When  they  were  alone  he 
said:  "1  intend  to  fix  it  forever  in  the  minds  of  the  American 
people  that  secession  is  a  crime.  I  intend  to  have  all  Confed 
erate  officers  and  officials  put  to  a  public  death."  Grant  made 
no  reply  when  Johnson  had  finished  his  harangue,  but  rose  in 
silence  to  take  his  leave.  "What  do  you  mean  to  do?"  asked 
Johnson.  Then  Grant  said:  "I  am  going  back  to  the  camp; 
I  shall  move  my  army  upon  Washington;  I  shall  proclaim 
martial  law  and  take  command.  My  reason  for  so  doing  is 
this:  I  received  the  surrender  of  General  Lee,  which  ended 
the  war.  That  surrender  put  into  my  hands  the  lives  and  safe 
ty  of  every  officer  and  official  on  the  Confederate  side,  and  I 
hold  myself  in  duty  and  honor  bound  to  see  that  they  are 
protected  according  to  the  rules  of  war  and  common  right. 
You  can  communicate  with  me  at  my  headquarters."  Grant 
returned  to  his  camp,  issued  the  necessary  orders,  and  waited 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  91 

for  the  proclamation  to   be   made.     Then   he  received  word 
that  Johnson  had  changed  his  mind. 

Your  committee  further  finds,  as  a  matter  of  history, 
that  the  interview  alleged  to  have  been  had  -between  the 
President  and  General  Grant  must  have  occurred,  if  at  all, 
while  the  armies  of  the  United  States  were  in  camp  in  the 
vicinity  of  Washington,  prior  to,  or  about  the  time  of  the 
Grand  Review ;  that  thereafter  and  from  the  12th  of  August, 
1867,  to  January  13th,  1868,  General  Grant  was  the  Secretary 
of  War,  ad  interim,  acting  on  the  appointment  of  President 
Johnson:  that  in  view  of  all  the  circumstances,  MS  shown  by 
the  reports  from  the  War  Department  and  well  established 
facts  of  history,  it  was  impossible  for  such  an  interview  to 
have  taken  place,  or  for  such  a  declaration  to  have  been  made 
by  General  Grant,  and  especially  that  no  such  orders  were 
ever  issued  by  him  looking  to  the  overthrow  of  rightful  author 
ity  and  the  placing  of  the  capital  of  his  country  under  mar 
tial  law. 

Whatever  may  be  our  individual  views  as  to  the  charac 
ter  of  the  man  who  then  was  President  of  the  United  States, 
we  know  that  the  declaration  by  General  Grant  of  such  an 
intention  and  the  issuing  of  orders  by  him  as  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  as  alleged,  would 
have  been  an  act  of  flagrant  treason,  for  war  was  then  still 
the  legal  status  in  the  United  States.  We  are  convinced  by 
the  evidence  and  our  knowledge  of  the  man  that  our  great 
Commander  never  made  any  intimation,  expression  or  orders, 
or  did  any  act  that  might  have  been  disastrous  to  the  laws 
or  destructive  to  the  liberties  of  his  country.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  know  that  every  act  of  his  public  life  as  a  soldier 
and  as  a  civilian  showed  unfaltering  regard  for  the  law  and 
devotion  to  the  liberties  of  the  country,  as  well  as  a  scrupu 
lous  regard  for  the  preservation  of  our  laws  and  the  sanctity 
of  the  constitution.  We  have  searched  in  vain  for  any  record  of 
any  act  of  our  great  Comrade,  in  the  midst  of  all  the  vicissi 
tudes  of  his  life,  that  could  be  construed  into  a  treasonable  at 
tempt  ;  and  we  present  this  report  as  the  reply  of  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee,  of  which  he  was  the  first  Commander,  and  to 
whom  his  fame  now  is  and  ever  will  be  very  dear,  to  every 
charge,  from  what  source  soever  emanating,  that  would  con 
nect  his  name  with  an  act  treasonable  to  the  country  and  de 
structive  to  its  government. 
"Respectfully  submitted, 

OLIVER  OTIS  HOWARD, 
MRS.  JOHN  A.  LOGAN. 
V.  WARNER, 
JOHN  C.  BLACK,  Chairman. 


92  .PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  or  GRANT. 

They  also  submitted  the  following  papers  and  documents: 
Prom  letter  of  General  John  C.  Black,  July  3d,  1906,  to  Gen 
eral  Robert  Shaw  Oliver,  Assistant  Secretary  of  War : 

1  have  the  honor  to  request  that  yon  will  kindly  advise 
me  whether  there  is  or  is  not  any  proof  in  the  records  of  the 
War  Department  of  the  foregoing  statement,  or  any  material 
part  thereof.  If  there  is  such  proof,  I  will  thank  you  for  an 
exhibition  of  it,  or  a  reference  to  it,  that  I  may  examine  it. 
If  there  is  no  such  proof  I  hope  that  you  will  so  state  to  me. 

War  Department,  The  Military  Sect.  Office, 

Washington,  July  5th,  1906. 
.(Respectfully  returned  to  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  War.; 

Nothing  has  been  found  of  record  in  this  office,  either  to 
prove  or  disprove  the  statement  made  within,  or  any  material 
part  thereof. 

The  only  papers  that  have  been  found  of  record,  and  that 
appear  to  have  even  a  remote  bearing  on  the  subject  in  ques 
tion,  are  letters  from  General  Lee  to  General  Grant,  and  Gen 
eral  Grant  to  General  Lee,  published  in  the  official  records  of 
the  Union  and  Confederate  armies.  Series  1,  Vol.  46,  Part  III, 
Pages  1275  and  1286. 

P.  C.  ATNSWORT11, 
Military   Secretary. 

War  Department,  July  6th,  1906. 

So  far  as  the  records  of  the  War  Department  are  con 
cerned,  the  statements  submitted  by  you  regarding  General 
Grant's  action  are  without  any  foundation  whatever. 

ROBERT  SHAW  OLIVER. 

Assistant  Secretary  of  War. 

On  the  8th  of  July,  1906,  the  following  was  written  by 
Major-General  Frederick  D.  Grant,  United  States  Army : 

Your  letter  enclosing  an  extract  from  the  address  deliv 
ered  at  my  father's  tomb  on  May  30th  is  received.  With  ref 
erence  to  the  said  statement,  I  can  only  say  that  I  have  heard 
my  father  speak  of  this  interview  with  President  Johnson, 
when  the  arrests  of  General  R.  E.  Lee  and  other  Confederate 
officers  were  contemplated  by  the  President.  The  statement 
that  father  always  made  in  my  presence  was  that  lie  (General 
Grant)  had  protested  against  such  action  being  taken  as  the 
arrest  of  the  Confederate  officers,  so  long  as  they  observed 
their  parole,  as  they  had  surrendered  to  him  (General  Grant). 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GHANT.  93 


upon  terms  which  he,  as  Commander  of  the  United  States  army. 
had  a  legal  right  to  grant  or  dictate,  and  if  our  government 
violated  these  terms  agreed  upon,  it  would  discredit  him  as 
well  as  our  government,  and  that  in  case  of  this  arrest  of 
these  Confederates  he  would  be  obliged  to  resign  his  com  mis 
sion  in  the  United  States  army. 

In  the  above  I  am  giving  you  almost  father's  exact  words. 
I  heard  him  make  this  statement  frequently,  and  what  is  at 
tributed  to  father  in  the  incident  as  related  does  not  at  all 
harmonize  with  my  father's  character,  and  in  my  mind  it  is 
absolutely  impossible.  The  speaker  was  of  course  misin 
formed. 

FREDERICK  D.   GRANT. 

Upon  the  report  of  this  committee,  I  stated  to  the  Society 
the  actual  facts  in  relation  to  what  did  occur  at  the  time  that 
President  Johnson  ordered  the  arrest  and  execution  of  Gen 
eral  Lee  and  others,  as  stated  by  a  member  of  President  John 
son's  cabinet,  as  follows: 

After  the  assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  Cabinet  met  in 
the  Treasury  Department  and  passed  a  resolution  to  arrest 
and  try  by  Military  Commission,  the  leading  men  of  the  Con 
federacy,  beginning  with  President  Davis,  General  R.  E.  Lee, 
and  others;  meaning  thereby  to  strike  terror  into  the  hearts  of 
the  southern  people.  They  concluded  to  carry  out  this  resolu 
tion,  and  General  Grant  must  give  the  required  orders. 

General  Grant  at  that  time  was  seeking  rest  on  the  banks 
of  the  Delaware.  He  was  telegraphed  to  come  immediately  to 
Washington.  Mr.  Garrett,  the  President  of  the  Baltimore  & 
Ohio  Railroad,  was  at  that  moment  in  Washington,  and  was 
instructed  by  Sec.  Stanton  to  go  forthwith  to  Baltimore  in  a 
single  express  car,  there  to  meet  General  Grant  and  bring  him 
to  Washington  as  quickly  as  possible.  He  was  also  told  by 
Sec.  Stanton  to  inform  General  Grant  of  the  resolution  passed, 
which  he  was  expected  to  execute. 

Mr.  Garrett  gives  the  following  account  of  what  General 
Grant  said  when  the  message  was  delivered  to  him  in  the  car : 

These  gentlemen  do  not  reflect  that  such  an  action  would 
be  a  stain  upon  the  escutcheon  of  the  country,  which  never 


94 PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIQNS  OF  GRANT. 

could  be  wiped  out.  The  assassination  seems  to  have  unsettled 
their  wits,  to  think  that  such  men  as  General  Lee  and  President 
Davis  had  anything  to  do  with  the  murder.  These  are  gen 
tlemen  whom  I  have  known  and  esteemed  for  years,  and  who 
are  incapable  of  crime — as  well  suspect  myself. 

In  response  Mr.  Garrett  said,  "Well  General,  the  Cabinet 
are  waiting  only  for  you  to  give  the  orders,  and  you  will  go 
into  that  matter  as  soon  as  you  get  there.  I  hope  when  you  do 
that  you  will  speak  to  them  just  as  you  have  now  done  to  me.'' 
Then  came  the  reply:  "I  shall  go  further,  I  shall  tell  them 
that  they  must  first  take  my  sword  from  me." 

Mr.  Garrett  says  upon  their  arrival,  General  Grant  went 
directly  into  the  Cabinet  room,  and  he  remained  in  the  corri 
dor.  After  some  time  the  Postmaster  General  came  out  and 
approached  him.  Mr.  Garrett  said,  "I  don't  wish  to  pry  into 
the  judges'  confidence  or  secrets,  but  you  know  the  message 
with  which  I  was  charged.  When  I  delivered  it  to  General 
Grant,  he  said  that  he  would  tell  you  gentlemen  that  yon 
must  first  take  his  sword  from  him."  The  answer  was.  "He 
has  done  that  very  thin^r  Mr.  Garrett." 

Mr.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War,  also  confirmed  this  to  Mr. 
Garrett. 

Grant  considered  the  action  of  France  in  building  a  mon 
archy  on  the  ruins  of  Mexico,  during  the  Civil  War,  as  an  act 
of  War  against  the  United  States,  but  the  condition  of  the 
United  States  rendered  it  impossible  for  them  to  interfere,  and 
it  is  a  very  remarkable  fact  that  on  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg 
he  was  so  thoughtful  of  the  future,  and  displayed  that  re 
markable  statesmanship  that  in  later  years  won  the  admira 
tion  of  the  world.  Washington  was  asking  for  reinforcements 
for  other  armies,  and  again  distributing  his  victorious  arm 
ies,  which  he  wished  to  use,  Grant,  in  answer  to  a  letter  from 
Lincoln,  wrote  the  President  as  follows : 

Vicksburg,  August  9th,  1863. 

In  view  of  present  events  in  Mexico,  I  am  greatly  im 
pressed  with  the  importance  of  re-establishing  the  National 
authority  in  Western  Texas  as  soon  as  possible,  and  he  said  he 
was  ready  to  send  a  portion  of  his  command  to  occupy  the 
Rio  Grande  River,  facing  Mexico. 


PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  95 

It  is  now  a  matter  of  history  that  as  soon  as  Lee  surren 
dered,  Grant  immediately  telegraphed  to  the  Government  that 
action  should  be  taken  to  force  the  French  out  of  Mexico ;  that 
Mexico  was  a  friendly  nation,  and  that  they  should  be  aided. 
Our  Government  acted,  not  by  forcing  the  French  out  of  that 
country,  but  by  sending  General  Schofield  to  Europe,  to  make 
known  to  the  French  Government  the  feeling  of  our  country 
and  its  determination  to  aid  Mexico,  if  necessary,  and,  as  is 
known  Napoleon  immediately  telegraphed  the  French  Army 
to  evacuate,  but  Maximilian  declined  to  go.  He  was  made  to 
believe  he  had  a  following  in  Mexico  that  would  enable  him 
to  maintain  his  monarchy. 

As  soon  as  General  Grant  distributed  the  army,  he  placed 
Sheridan  on  the  Rio  Grande  with  a  view  of  crossing,  if  neces 
sary.  I  was  in  comand  of  the  Department  of  Missouri  at  that 
time,  and  received  orders  to  prepare  to  go  to  New  Mexico 
with  a  view  of  occupying  Chihuahua  and  Sonora,  if  deemed 
expedient.  Nothing  ever  came  from  these  movements,  but 
General  Frederick  D.  Grant  says  that  he  found,  in  a  private 
letter  book  of  General  Grant's,  two  confidential  letters  to 
Sheridan,  telling  him  he  must  look  out;  that  the  administra 
tion  was  opposed  to  breaking  neutrality,  but  if  he  believed 
that  Santa  Anna,  who  was  on  the  border,  was  favorable  to 
Jaurzez,  then  he  could  befriend  him,  and  also  said  there  were 
lots  of  arms  left  by  soldiers  on  both  sides,  and  if  they  fell  into 
Jaurzez 's  hands  he  (Grant)  did  not  care,  and  Sheridan  could 
lose  them;  he  also  said  that  some  five  or  six  of  our  batteries 
and  some  40,000  stands  of  arms  were  lost  in  that  way.  Grant 
also  informed  Sheridan  that  if  any  of  these  arms  or  artillery 
fell  into  the  hands  of  Maximilian  he  would  have  to  account  for 
them,  thus  showing  plainly  his  views  in  the  matter,  also  those 
of  the  Government.  Mexico,  of  course,  was  aware  of  the 
friendship  on  the  part  of  Grant,  and  was  always  devoted  to 
him.  Its  representative  in  Washington  always  attended  the 


96  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

yearly  banquet  in  New  York  City  on  General  Grant's  birth 
day,  and  I  heard  Minister  Romero,  at  a  dinner  given  General 
Grant,  give  a  detailed  account  of  all  the  actions  of  General 
Grant  in  their  behalf,  things  that  had  never  been  spoken  be 
fore.  General  Grant  was  present  and  admitted  that  they 
were  true. 

After  the  war  General  Grant  took  a  great  interest  in  the 
development  of  Mexico.  When  President  Diaz  was  here  in 
1883,  he  gave  him  a  noted  dinner  at  the  Union  League  Club 
of  New  York,  on  April  4th,  at  which  thirty-six  of  the  most 
prominent  people  in  New  York  were  present.  At  that  dinner 
President  Diaz  made  known  the  great  friendship  of  General 
Grant  for  his  nation,  and  their  appreciation  of  it.  After  Gen 
eral  Grant  returned  to  private  life,  he  was  interested  in  and 
was  President  of  a  railroad  running  from  the  City  of  Mexico 
to  the  Pacific  Coast,  through  the  State  of  Oaxaca,  which  was 
President  Diaz's  home.  I  was  at  that  time  building  a  road 
from  Laredo  to  the  City  of  Mexico,  and  General  Grant  induced 
me  to  become  Vice  President  of  his  company  and  make  sur 
veys  for  that  line,  and  he  put  forth  his  greatest  efforts  to 
complete  it.  The  financial  condition  of  the  country  became 
such  that  the  work  on  both  lines  was  suspended,  and  while 
the  line  to  the  City -of  Mexico  has  since  been  completed,  the 
other  is  just  reaching  the  Pacific. 

In  the  winter  of  1864-65  the  Confederates,  who  controlled 
the  Indian  Territory,  had  sowed  a  great  deal  of  dissension 
among  the  Indian  tribes  north  of  the  Arkansas  River,  until 
they  became  very  aggressive  along  the  three  lines  of  commun 
ication  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  the  Arkansas,  South 
Platte  and  North  Platte,  and  the  unfortunate  attack  of  Col 
onel  Chivington  on  a  friendly  band  of  Indians  on  the  Big 
Sandy,  near  old  Fort  Lyon,  on  the  Arkansas  River,  had  aroused 
all  the  Sioux  nation.  These  disturbances  had  stopped  the 
mails,  also  pretty  much  all  travel  between  the  Territories,  Cali- 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 


forma,  and  the  Missouri  River,  and  there  was  a  great  outcry 
and  demand  that  troops  be  sent  into  that  country  to  open  it. 
General  Curtis,  who  commanded  the  Indian  country  at  that 
time,  did  not  think  that  a  winter  campaign  could  be  made  in 
that  country,  and  so  expressed  himself  to  the  War  Depart 
ment. 

About  January  1,  1865,  General  Grant  wired  me,  asking  if 
a  winter  campaign  could  be  made  on  the  plains.  He  knew  I 
had  had  a  great  deal  of  experience  on  the  plains  during  the 
ten  years  preceding  the  war.  I  answered  that  it  could,  if  the 
troops  were  properly  prepared,  and  immediately  received  an 
order  from  him  to  proceed  to  Fort  Leavenworth,  where  I  would 
receive  orders.  On  arriving  there  I  found  that  the  Depart 
ment  of  Kansas  and  Territories  had  been  merged  into  my 
command  —  the  Department  of  the  Missouri  —  and  its  command 
ing  officer  relieved  and  also  found  a  dispatch  there  telling  me 
to  open  up  the  stage  and  telegraph  lines  through  to  California. 
This  was  a  great  surprise  to  me,  and,  of  course,  came  from 
the  dispatch  I  had  sent  General  Grant.  I  knew  there  was  no 
way  to  accomplish  this  except  to  take  the  field  myself,  which 
I  immediately  did,  and  by  the  first  of  March,  1864,  had  opened 
all  the  telegraph  lines,  had  put  the  stages  on  again,  and  had 
communication  through  to  California. 

It  was  a  very  severe  winter  campaign  —  the  worst  winter  I 
ever  saw  on  the  plains.  In  March  we  had  the  worst  storm  I 
ever  saw,  and  a  battalion  of  Pawnee  scouts  I  had  there  nearly 
perished  in  the  storm,  losing  all  their  stock. 

As  soon  as  I  had  finished  this  campaign,  which  was  only  a 
temporary  one,  I  was  immediately  ordered  to  prepare  a  gen 
eral  campaign  for  that  summer  and  fall,  which  would  force 
peace  with  all  the  Indians  from  the  Red  River  on  the  south 
to  the  British  possessions  on  the  north.  This  campaign  was  a 
long  one,  taking  from  July,  1865,  until  the  spring  of  1866. 
My  troops  marched  from  the  Arkansas  to  the  Yellowstone,  and 


98 PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

fought  many  battles.  Right  after  the  battle  of  Tongue  River, 
where  General  Conner's  command  fought  the  Northern  Chey 
e,nnes  and  Arapahoes;  and  nearly  wiped  out  these  bands,  in 
cluding  their  women  and  some  of  their  children,  there  was  a 
great  outcry  throughout  the  country,  as  the  battalion  of 
Pawnee  Indians  that  was  in  the  fight  did  some  promiscuous 
scalping.  General  Grant  wired  me  to  close  up  the  campaign 
and  bring  the  Indians  to  Laramie  and  make  peace  with  them. 
I  protested,  and  stated  that  if  thejr  would  give  me  three 
months  longer  I  would  answer  with  my  life  for  the  settling  all 
the  Indian  difficulties.  General  Grant's  answer  was  that  the 
President  was  so  urgent  in  the  matter,  and  that  there  was 
such  a  pressure  upon  him,  that  I  must  close  the  campaign  and 
bring  the  Indians  in.  This  was  a  fatal  mistake,  and  gave  the 
Indians  the  idea  that  they  were  the  victors  instead  of  our 
selves,  and  the  result  was  to  bring,  later  on,  a  war  with  the 
Apaches  and  Commanches,  the  Sioux  and  the  Sitting  Bull 
war,  in  which  General  Ouster  lost  his  life  and  command  in 
the  campaign  of  General  Terry. 

Grant's  disappointment  at  the  sudden  closing  of  this  cam 
paign  was  equal  to  my  own,  but,  as  his  dispatches  show,  there 
was  no  consideration  given  to  the  judgment  of  the  officers  in 
the  field  or  on  the  ground. 

I  had  expected  to  leave  the  army  early  in  1865,  but  the 
Indian  campaign  kept  me  in  the  field  until  1866.    I  resigned  in 
March  and  was  given  a  leave  of  absence  in  May,  and  bid  fare 
well  to  the  army  in  this  letter. 

Omaha,  July  16th,  1866. 
General  U.  S.  Grant. 

General : — I  am  now  a  citizen  but  still  take  great  inter 
est  in  the  army,  and  shall  always  give  it  what  aid  there  is  in 
my  power.  I  know  that  to  your  unfailing  support  and  your 
confidence  in  me,  I  am  greatly  indebted  for  what  little  success 
1  may  have  achieved,  and  I  desire  now  to  thank  you.  I  hope 
I  may  be  able  some  day  to  partly  return  it.  Wherever  for 
tune  may  hereafter  place  me,  I  shall  never  forget  that  all  true 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  99 

soldiers  owe  to  you  more  than  they  can  ever  repay,  and  that 
the  country  can  never  reward  your  successful  labor  for  it  in  the 
army.  I  .grew  up  under  your's,  Sherman's  and  McPherson's 
orders  and  guidance,  and  I  shall  take  into  civil  life  my  lesson 
that  will  be  of  lasting  benefit  to  me.  I  trust  if  I  can  ever  be 
of  service  to  you  in  any  way  that  you  will  not  fail  to  com 
mand  me,  and  that  you  will  visit  our  section  of  the  country  in 
some  of  your  travels.  We  are  fast  civilizing  this  western 
country,  and  I  believe  our  railroad  will  do  more  towards  tam 
ing  the  Indians  than  all  else  combined.  General  Sherman  wns 
here  to  see  me  a  short  time  ago. 

I  am  truly  yours, 

G.  M.  DODGE. 

At  the  end  of  the  war  General  Grant  had  a  desire  to  re 
ward  a  certain  number  of  the  Volunteer  Generals  that  had 
served  under  him  in  the  army,  who  had  not  gone  into  the 
regular  army,  and  he  proposed  the  passage  of  a  bill  appoint 
ing  a  certain  number  of  Major-Generals  and  Brigadier-Gen 
erals  in  the  regular  army  for  life.  On  this  list  he  placed  me 
at  the  head  to  be  a  Major-General  in  the  regular  army.  It 
would  have  been  impossible  for  me  to  have  accepted  the  posi 
tion,  as  I  was  under  contract  at  the  time  in  building  the 
Union  Pacific  Railway.  General  Grant  greatly  desired,  at  the 
end  of  the  war,  that  T  should  remain  in  the  army,  and  kept  me 
in  over  a  year  after  the  volunteer  forces  were  mustered  out, 
but  General  Sherman,  who  knew  my  connection  with  the 
Union  Pacific,  took  my  view  of  the  matter,  and  advised  me 
not  to  remain  in  the  army.  His  letter  giving  me  leave  of  ab 
sence  to  take  the  position  of  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Union 
Pacific  indicates  his  views  on  this  question  very  clearly. 

In.  November,  1866,  I  was  elected  to  Congress  from  the 
State  of  Iowa,  and  took  my  seat  in  December,  1867.  General 
Grant  was  then  commander  of  the  army,  with  headquarters  in 
Washington,  and  we  were  together  very  often.  I  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Military  Committee  of  the  House,  and  the  re-organ 
ization  of  the  army  was  one  of  the  important  things  before  us. 
There  was  a  great  conflict  as  to  what  measure  should  be 


100  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 


passed  between  our  Chairman,  General  James  A.  Garfield,  and 
General  B.  F.  Butler.  It  was  a  difficult  problem  to  reduce  the 
army  to  a  minimum  and  take  care  of  the  large  number  of  offi 
cers  who  had  been  appointed  to  the  regular  army,  and  were 
then  under  commission.  The  views  of  General  Grant  were 
not  the  views  of  the  Committee,  but  when  the  conflict  in  the 
House  became  acute  I  offered  a  substitute  for  all  the  bills, 
which  simply  provided  for  the  minimum  strength  of  the  army, 
and  left  it  to  the  Commander-in-Chief,  General  Grant,  to  make 
the  reduction  in  such  manner  as  he  considered  would  be  to  the 
best  interests  of  the  service.  This  substitute  was  passed,  and 
[  received  credit,  as  a  new  member,  of  defeating  two  such  old 
and  prominent  members  as  Garfield  and  Butler. 

During  this  time  also  the  conflict  between  President  An 
drew  Johnson  and  General  Grant  occurred.  There  was  living 
with  me  at  that  time  the  Honorable  James  F.  Wilson  of  Iowa. 
Chairman  of  the  House  Judiciary  Committee,  having  in  charge 
the  reconstruction  measures.  He  was  a  prominent  leader  of  the 
House,  in  whom  Generals  Grant  and  Rawlins  had  great  confi 
dence,  and  all  the  correspondence  that  passed  between  Grant 
and  Johnson  was  brought  to  me  by  General  Rawlins,  and  sub 
tnitted  by  me  to  Representative  Wilson,  who  thought  Grant 
showed  a  grasp  and  insight  of  the  question  that  was  most  sur 
prising,  and  he  had  no  reason  to  suggest  any  changes,  but  ap 
proved  entirely  General  Grant's  position  and  contentions  in 
the  matter. 

Soon  afterwards  General  Grant  was  nominated  for  the 
Presidency  on  the  Republican  ticket,  and  General  Frank  P. 
Blair  for  Vice  President  on  the  Democratic  ticket.  General 
Blair  was  at  that  time  a  United  States  Commissioner,  accept 
ing  each  section  of  twenty  miles  of  the  Union  Pacific  Rail 
way  as  it  was  built,  with  headquarters  at  Fort  Sanders. 
Wyoming.  General  Grant  came  to  Omaha  to  go  over  the  road 
with  me.  and  General  Blair  happening  to  arrive  at  Omaha  at 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GIUNT  101 


the  same  time,  1  took  them  both  in  my  car  to  the  end  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Railway.  Blair  had  been  a  fine  soldier,  com 
manding  a  Brigade,  Division  and  Corps  under  Grant,  and 
Grant  had  referred  to  him  in  his  reports  in  the  highest  terms. 
When  they  met  they  were  as  cordial  and  chatty  as  though 
they  were  political  friends.  Blair's  contention  was  that  if 
Grant  was  elected  President  it  was  one  step  towards  placing 
the  country  under  a  monarchy,  for  he  believed,  with  the  faith 
the  people  had  in  him,  his  party  would  take  the  benefit  and 
make  him  a  permanent  President,  but  one  knowing  Grant  as 
1  did  knew  he  was  the  last  person  to  think  of  such  a  result, 
much  less  be  a  party  to  it.  The  population  along  the  line  of 
the  Union  Pacific  Railway,  and  the  working  parties  were  many 
of  them  rebels  who  had  gone  into  the  plains  rather  than  go 
into  the  Confederate  army,  or  be  sent  through  our  lines  into 
the  Confederate  lines.  There  had  also  concentrated  along  thp 
line  and  on  the  work  a  great  many  Confederate  soldiers  I  had 
enlisted  from  among  the  Confederate  prisoners  of  war  to  go 
on  the  plains  and  fight  the  Indian  campaigns. 

Naturally  this  population  was  for  the  democratic  ticket. 
The  presence  of  Grant  and  Blair  on  the  line  was  known,  and 
at  every  stopping  place  the  people  congregated  and  were  all 
anxious  to  see  Grant,  and  demanded  that  Blair,  who  was 
known  as  a  fine  speaker,  should  talk  to  them  on  the  political 
question.  Grant  urged  Blair  to  comply  with  their  wishes,  but 
Blair  responded  that  the  presence  of  Grant,  for  whom  he  had 
the  highest  admiration  personally,  made  it  impossible  for  him 
to  talk  to  them  on  politics,  and  stating  that  he  intended  to  be 
down  the  road  again  in  a  short  time,  and  it  would  then  give 
him  pleasure  to  expound  to  them  the  principles  of  his  party 
which,  of  course,  satisfied  them. 

Soon  after  I  left  the  service,  I  was  sued  for  over  thirty 
thousand  dollars  in  the  United  States  courts  in  Kansas 
for  seizing,  by  order  of  Mr.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War.  a 


102 PERSONAL  RKC'OLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

lot  of  horses  arid  mules  that  had  been  driven  into  Kansas 
from  the  Indian  Territory— the  prosecutors  claiming  them  as 
private  property.  When  I  appealed  to  the  Government  to  de 
fend  the  suit  it  developed,  that  there  was  no  way  it  could  do 
so,  and  that  there  was  no  law  protecting  an  officer  for  acts 
committed  while  in  the  service,  no  matter  whose  orders  he 
obeyed,  from  civil  suit,  so  judgment  was  given  against  me  and 
all  my  property  levied  upon.  You  can  imagine  that  T  was 
greatly  disturbed,  as  was  General  Grant,  and  he  said,  if  he 
was  elected  President,  one  of  his  first  acts  would  be  to  hav<' 
laws  passed  protecting  all  officers  for  military  acts  committed 
while  in  the  service,  and  one  to  relieve  me.  Blair  said :  "As 
I  am  certain  to  be  elected,  I  will  also  see  that  it  is  done." 

And  T  felt  at  ease  if  I  could  keep  off  the  execution  until  after 
election.  Grant  was  elected,  and  the  next  Congress  passed  a 
law  protecting  officers  who  had  been  in  the  Government  Serv 
ice,  and  the  Government  also  paid  the  judgment  against  me. 

In  the  spring  of  1868,  during  the  building  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad,  the  company  gave  the  chief  of  construction, 
Mr.  T.  C.  Durant,  entire  charge,  not  only  of  the  building  of 
the  lines,  but  also  of  the  surveys  for  the  company.  The  desire 
of  the  construction  company  to  make  headway  and  meet  the 
Central  Pacific  as  far  west  as  possible,  caused  them  to  change 
a  portion  of  my  lines  west  of  the  Black  Hills.  I  entered  a 
protest  against  this,  and  notified  the  Company  that  if  iny  lines 
were  changed  without  notifying  me  it  would  be  necessary  for 
nre  to  resign.  I  was  acting  in  a  double  capacity,  as  chief  engi 
neer  for  the  railway,  Generals  Grant  and  Sherman  also  hold 
ing  me  accountable  for  carrying  out  the  instructions  of  the 
Government.  The  Government  heard  of  this  action  of  the 
Company,  and  Generals  Grant  and  Sherman,  accompanied  by 
Generals  Kautz,  Sheridan,  Dent,  Gibbon,  Harney,  Potter  and 
Hunt,  came  to  Fort  Sanders,  Wyoming  Territory,  to  visit  me, 
and  consult  with  me  in  the  matter.  At  that  time  I  was  in  Salt 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 


Lake  City,  but  received  a  dispatch  from  T.  C.  Durant,  chief  of 
the  construction  force,  to  come  to  Fort  Sanders  to  meet  them, 
and  at  the  same  time  requesting  me  to  withdraw  my  resigna 
tion. 

When  I  arrived  at  Fort  Sanders,  I  found  that  Grant  and 
Sherman  had  stated  very  emphatically,  to  the  Union  Pacific 
people,  that  my  lines  must  be  maintained  or  the  Government 
would  take  action  in  the  matter;  that  they  knew  me  and  had 
confidence  in  me,  and  there  was  no  person  whom  they  could 
make  chief  engineer  to  whom  they  would  give  the  authority 
they  had  given  me  for  calling  upon  the  commanders,  for  troops 
for  escorts,  and  upon  the  posts  for  supplies,  etc.,  that  we  might 
need. 

Generals  Grant  and  Sherman  were  all  the  time  in  commun 
ication  with  me,  and  both  took  as  much  interest  in  the  building 
of  the  railway  as  I  did.  Their  visit  to  the  line  was  of  great 
benefit,  for  it  put  an  end  to  a  great  deal  of  friction  that  exist 
ed  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railway,  between  the  company  and 
the  contractors,  and  from  that  time  on  I  never  had  any  trouble  ; 
in  fact  the  control  of  the  construction  of  the  road  was  vir 
tually  turned  over  to  me. 

General  Grant  in  his  first  administration  appointed  A.  G. 
Burlingame  as  Minister  to  China.  He  took  a  high  position  at 
the  Chinese  court,  and  returned  to  this  country  with  authority 
to  arrange  for  many  innovations  in  China,  among  them  great 
internal  improvements,  including  railroads. 

Minister  Burlingame  applied  to  General  Grant  for  some  one 
to  take  charge  of  the  building  of  the  railways  contemplated  by 
the  Chinese  Government,  and  General  Grant  recommended 
me.  I  had  then  completed  the  building  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railway,  and  at  Grant's  urgent  request  accepted  the  position, 
and  commenced  arranging  my  affairs  to  accompany  Minister 
Burlingame  on  his  return  to  China.  He  went  to  Europe  and 

while  there  died,  and  with  him  seems  to   have   died  all  the 

. 

modern  views  and  efforts  of  the  Chinese  Government. 


104 PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

These  efforts  of  Burlingame  in  China  came  through  Grant's 
great  influence  there,  for  probably  there  is  no  nation  he  vis 
ited  that  was  more  impressed  with  Grant  than  the  Chinese, 
and  during  his  life  and  after  his  death  they  paid  him  great  re 
spect,  and  I  have  no  doubt  if  Burlingame  had  lived  and  con 
tinued  his  efforts,  with  the  support  of  General  Grant,  he  would 
have  been  able  to  carry  out  many  of  the  reforms  that  were 
contemplated. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  Chinese  seem  never  to  forget 
anything,  for  in  1883,  when  I  was  building  railways  in  Texas, 
the  Chinese  Government  again  took  this  matter  up,  and  remeni 
hering  the  recommendation  of  General  Grant,  they  sent  to  me 
in  Texas  and  renewed  the  request  to  visit  China  for  the  same 
purpose,  but  I  was  then  unable  to  accept,  and  had  to  decline. 

The  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  was  organized 
at  Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  on  April  14,  1865.  General  Grant 
took  great  interest  in  this  Society,  and  at  its  first  meeting 
he  wrote  this  letter  to  the  Society,  and  his  tribute  to  his  old 
army  is  the  most  sincere  and  the  most  complete  of  any  T  havr 
ever  seen: 

Washington,  D.  C.,  November  llth.  1866. 
Dear  General : 

It  is  with  great  disappointment  that  1  have  to  announce, 
at  the  last  moment,  my  inability  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the 
Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  on  the  14th  inst.  I  find 
it  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  be  absent  from  the  city,  for  the 
present,  for  so  long  a  time  as  it  would  take  me  to  go  to  Cincin 
nati  and  return. 

I  regret  not  being  able  to  attend  the  first  meeting  of  the 
Society,  composed  in  whole  of  officers  of  the  army  which 
formed  "my  first  command"  in  the  terrible  Rebellion,  and  with 
which  I  felt  myself  identified  to  the  end  of  its  service. 

When  my  command  was  less  than  an  "army"  it  was  com 
posed  of  troops  which  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  "Army  of 
the  Tennessee"  in  its  organization  into  an  army. 

It  was  the  first  army  I  had  the  honor  to  command,  and 
to  the  end  of  the  Rebellion  it  was  an  integral  and  important 
part  of  the  force  which  I  had  the  honor  to  direct,  through  the 
ablest  and  most  distinguished  officers  of  any  service. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  105 

It  is  a  proud  record  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  gained 
during  the  Rebellion.  As  an  army  it  never  sustained  a  de 
feat  during  the  four  years  of  war.  No  officer  was  ever  as 
signed  to  the  command  of  that  army  who  had  afterwards  to 
be  relieved  from  duty,  or  reduced  to  a  less  command.  Such 
a  history  is  not  by  accident  nor  wholly  due  to  sagacity  in  the 
selection  of  commanders. 

Again  permit  me  to  express  through  you  to  the  Society 
of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  my  deep  regret  at  not  being  able 
to  be  with  you  on  the  interesting  occasion  of  its  first  meeting. 

T  have  the  honor  to  be  with  great  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant. 
IT.  S.  GRANT.  General. 

A  speech  that  called  attention  to  General  Grant,  and  which 
was  one  of  the  most  notable  of  his  life,  was  made  at  the  Re 
union  of  the  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  at  Des 
Moines,  Iowa,  September  29,  1875.  Vigorous  and  vital  in 
thought,  sagacious  and  sublime  in  statesmanship,  it  stands  in 
history  as  a  most  notable  utterance. 

General  Grant  said  : 

Comrades : — It  always  affords  me  much  gratification  to 
meet  my  old  comrades-in-arms  of  ten  to  fourteen  years  ago, 
and  to  live  over  again  the  trials  and  hardships  of  those  days — 
hardships  imposed  for  the  preservation  and  perpetuation  of 
our  free  institutions.  We  believed  then,  and  believe  now, 
that  we  had  a  Government  worth  fighting  for,  and  if  need  be. 
dying  for.  How  many  of  our  comrades  of  those  days  paid  the 
latter  price  for  our  preserved  Union.  Let  their  heroism  and 
sacrifices  be  ever  green  in  our  memory.  Let  not  the  results  of 
their  sacrifices  be  destroyed.  The  Union  and  the  free  institu 
tions  for  which  they  fell,  should  be  held  more  dear  for  their 
sacrifices.  We  will  not  deny  to  any  of  those  who  fought 
against  us  any  privileges  under  the  Government  which  we 
claim  for  ourselves.  On  the  contrary,  we  welcome  all  such 
who  come  forward  in  good  faith  to  help  build  up  the  waste 
places  and  to  perpetuate  our  institutions  against  all  enemies, 
as  brothers  in  full  interest  with  us  in  a  common  heritage.  But 
we  are  not  prepared  to  apologize  for  the  part  we  took  in  the 
great  struggle.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  like  trials  will  never 
befall  our  country.  In  this  sentiment  no  class  of  people  can 
more  heartily  join  than  the  soldiers  who  submitted  to  the 
dangers,  trials  and  hardships  of  the  camp  and  battlefield,  on 


106  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  ov  GKANT. 

whichever  side  he  may  have  fought.  No  class  of  people  is 
more  interested  in  guarding  against  a  recurrence  of  those 
days.  Let  us  then  begin  by  guarding  against  every  enemy 
threatening  the  perpetuity  of  free  republican  institutions.  I 
do  not  bring  into  this  fair  assemblage  politics,  certainly  not 
partisan  politics;  but  it  is  a  fair  subject  for  our  deliberation, 
to  consider  what  may  be  necessary  to  secure  the  prize  for 
which  they  battled.  In  a  republic  like  ours,  where  the  citizen 
is  the  sovereign,  and  the  official,  servant — where  no  power  is 
exercised  except  by  the  will  of  the  people,  it  is  important  that 
the  sovereign — the  people — should  possess  intelligence.  The 
free  school  is  the  promoter  of  that  intelligence  which  is  to 
preserve  us  as  a  free  nation.  If  we  are  to  have  another  con 
test,  in  the  near  future  of  our  national  existence,  I  predict  that 
the  dividing  line  will  not  be  the  Mason  and  Dixon's,  but  be 
tween  patriotism  and  intelligence  on  the  one  side,  and  super 
stition,  ambition  and  ignorance  on  the  other.  Now,  in  this 
centennial  year  of  our  national  existence,  I  believe  it  a  good 
time  to  begin  the  work  of  strengthening  the  foundation  of 
the  house  commenced  by  our  patriotic  forefathers  one  hun 
dred  years  ago  at  Concord  and  Lexington.  Let  us  all  labor  to 
add  all  needful  guarantees  for  the  more  perfect  security  of 
free  thought,  free  speech  and  a  free  press;  pure  morals,  un 
fettered  religious  sentiments,  and  of  equal  rights  and  privil 
eges  to  all  men,  irrespective  of  nationality,  color  or  religion. 

Encourage  free  schools,  and  resolve  that  not  one  dollar  of 
money  appropriated  to  their  support,  no  matter  how  raised, 
shall  be  appropriated  to  the  support  of  any  sectarian  school. 
Resolve  that  either  the  State  or  Nation,  or  both  combined, 
shall  support  institutions  of  learning  sufficient  to  afford,  to 
every  child  growing  up  in  the  land,  the  opportunity  of  a 
good,  common  school  education,  unmixed  with  sectarian,  pagan 
or  atheistical  tenets.  Leave  the  matter  of  religion  to  the 
family  circle,  the  church,  and  the  private  school,  supported  en 
tirely  by  private  contribution.  Keep  the  church  and  state  for 
ever  separate.  With  these  safeguards  I  believe  the  battle 
which  created  us,  "The  Army  of  the  Tennessee,"  will  not  have 
been  fought  in  vain. 

In  1867,  while  I  was  building  the  Union  Pacific  Railway, 
General  Grant  suggested  that  I  should  take  with  me  on  some 
of  my  overland  trips  Brigadier-General  John  A.  Rawlins,  his 
Chief  of  Staff,  who  had  been  his  ablest  and  most  devoted 
friend  and  admirer,  thinking  the  trip  would  benefit  Rawlins, 
who  was  failing  in  health.  The  four  months  we  were  in 


^    5       c 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 107 

camp  together  were  delightful  ones  to  me,  for  I  listened  to  the 
story  of  Grant's  campaign,  and  the  many  incidents  that  oc 
curred  that  never  got  into  the  reports,  with  great  benefit  and 
satisfaction,  as  no  one  could  describe  them  as  Rawlins  did. 
He  explained  to  me  many  of  the  problems  of  the  war  that  I 
did  not  fully  understand;  Grant's  actions  in  great  emer 
gencies,  meeting  the  great  obstacles  in  his  way ;  the  almost 
unsurmountable  difficulties  he  had  to  overcome,  but  in  all  the 
dark  days  he  never  for  one  moment  lost  heart  or  faith,  or 
doubted  the  result.  Rawlins  became  Grant's  first  Secretary  of 
War.  When  he  died  in  September,  1869,  Grant  desired  to  give 
me  the  place,  but  my  duties  with  the  Union  Pacific  Railway 
prevented  it. 

In  1877  General  Grant  started  on  his  trip  around  the  world. 
I  was  with  him  in  Paris.  I  had  a  house  on  the  Boulevard 
Houseman.  The  attention  paid  him  in  Paris,  and  the  consid 
eration  he  received,  not  only  officially,  but  from  the  private 
citizens,  occupied  nearly  all  his  time,  and  whenever  he  had 
an  hour  to  himself  he  would  come  up  to  my  house  to  sit  and 
smoke  his  cigar,  and  have  a  complete  rest.  We  were  in  the 
habit  of  going  to  the  Champs  Elysees  and  sit  there  watching 
the  crowds.  I  had  with  me  my  youngest  daughter,  and  Gen 
eral  Grant  would  take  her  and  go  into  the  Punch  and  Judy 
shows  and  stay  an  hour  or  more  with  her,  and  seemed  to  enjoy 
it  as  fully  as  she  did.  He  was  more  interested  in  the  people, 
in  what  they  did,  and  in  the  manufactures,  etc.,  of  the  coun 
try,  than  anything  else,  and  was  absolutely  opposed  to  pa 
rades  and  reviews,  and  never  wanted  to  go  near  the  army.  He 
apparently  took  no  interest  in  military  matters  of  any  kind. 
It  was  a  singular  trait  of  character  that  a  man  who  had  han 
dled  as  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  and  fought  as 
many  battles  as  he  had,  should  have  such  an  aversion  to  look 
ing  on  troops,  or  having  them  brought  out  in  any  demonstra 
tion  for  him.  He  had  to  attend  in  Paris  three  or  four  cere- 


108  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

monies  each  day,  and  how  he  stood  it  and  maintained  his 
health  as  well  as  he  did  was  beyond  my  conception,  for  it  was 
impossible  for  me  to  stand  any  such  strain.  His  visits  to  the 
Champs  Elysees  seemed  to  be  of  great  relief  to  him,  and  ap 
parently  changed  him  from  a  great  General  and  President  to 
a  simple  boy. 

During  the  time  General  Grant  was  writing  his  Memoirs 
1  was  in  the  habit  of  visiting  him  when  I  was  in  New  York, 
and  sitting  some  hours  with  him,  and  he  would  often  read  to 
me  some  portions  of  what  he  had  written.  Illustrating  what 
an  extraordinary  memory  he  had,  he  read  to  me  a  portion  of 
what  he  had  written  about  me,  and  the  rebuilding  of  the 
Nashville  &  Decatur  Railway.  As  this  work  had  not  im 
pressed  itself  upon  my  mind  as  it  had  upon  his,  as  it  was  TIO 
unusual  thing  to  me,  I  listened  to  what  he  read,  and  said  that 
my  recollection  of  it  was  not  as  he  had  written  it,  which 
seemed  to  surprise  him,  and  he  said  if  that  was  so  he  would 
have  to  change  it.  I  said  not  to  change  it;  that  I  would  go  to 
my  office  and  look  over  my  records,  which  I  did.  I  had  to 
sit  down  the  next  morning  and  write  him  a  letter,  telling  him 
that  his  recollection  of  what  I  had  done  was  absolutely  cor 
rect,  while  my  own  was  absolutely  wrong,  and  the  chapter 
stood  as  he  had  written  it. 

Mr.  N.  E.  Dawson,  the  Secretary  to  whom  he  dic 
tated  the  greater  part  of  the  second  volume  of  his  Memoirs. 
says  the  few  corrections  they  had  to  make  of  dates  and 
data  of  all  kinds  showed  a  wonderful  accuracy  in  all 
his  statements,  that  the  work  they  had  to  do  was  to  ar 
range  the  different  subjects  in  chronological  order,  and  I  kno\v 
from  my  own  examination  that  his  first  volume,  written  in  his 
own  hand,  has  very  few  interlineations.  The  Secretary  also 
said  that  General  Grant  seemed  to  maintain  himself  during 
the  dictating  of  the  last  volume  by  a  strong  will  to  live  until 
it  was  completed,  and  after  he  had  written  it  all  out  and  rear! 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  QV  GRANT. 

it  to  him,  and  it  was  virtually  completed,  that  moment  he  im 
mediately  began  to  fail,  and  in  ten  days  thereafter  was  dead 
On  December  8th,  1884,  I  received  this  letter  from  Gen 
eral  Grant,  and  Major-General  Frederick  D.  Grant  says  this 
letter  was  the  last  letter  General  Grant  wrote  by  his  own  hand. 

New  York,  Dec.  8th,  1884. 
My  Dear  General  Dodge  : 

1  am  sorry  to  trouble  you  and  would  not  but  for  the  cir 
cumstances  under  which  I  am  placed.  Since  my  injury  of 
nearly  a  year  ago  I  have  grown  very  weak.  A  sore  throat  of 
six  months  standing  has  given  me  much  trouble.  In  addition 
to  this  I  have  been  a  sufferer  from  neuralgia.  I  think  a  visit 
to  the  Hot  Springs  of  Arkansas  would  do  me  much  good.  Can 
you  furnish  me  a  special  car  out  and  back?  If  I  go  I  would 
like  to  start  sometime  between  the  15th  and  20th  of  this  month, 
to  return  soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  new  year. 

Very  truly  yours, 

U.  S.  GRANT. 

P.  S. — Mrs.  Grant  will  accompany  me,  and  two  servants — 
maid  and  a  man  servant. 

1  brought  a  private  car  to  New  York,  and  held  it  there  for 
some  time,  but  General  Grant  was  not  able  to  make  the  trip 
or  use  it. 

On  December  19th.  1884,  I  received  this  letter  from  Gen 
era!  F.  D.  Grant: 

No.  3  East  66th,  Dec.  19th,  1884 
Dear  General : 

I  will  try  and  be  at  your  office  tomorrow  morning.  If  I 
don't  get  there  it  will  be  because  I  will  be  detained  with  father 
at  the  doctor's. 

Father  has  been  very  ill,  but  is  a  little  better,  and  we  are 
trying  to  get  him  well  enough  to  go  to  the  matinee  to  see  Ray 
mond  run  for  Congress  tomorrow  morning  and  cheer  him 
(father)  up  a  little. 

We  would  be  glad  to  have  you  call  at  any  time  you  can. 
particularly  in  the  morning  between  8  and  10  o'clock. 

Respectfully  &  C., 

F.  D.  GRANT 

In  compliance  with  this  letter,  on  Sunday,  December  21, 
1884.  I  started  up  to  see  Colonel  F.  D.  Grant.  Stopped  at  the 


110  PERSONAL.  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

Union  League  Club  and  found  the  Colonel  there  waiting  for 
me.  He  took  me  to  one  side  and  said  that  he  had  just  come 
from  Dr.  Fordyce  Parker,  who  told  him  that  his  father  could 
not  live  long;  perhaps  a  month  or  two,  perhaps  not  so*  long. 
He  said  that  Governor  Fish  and  Dr.  Newman  were  the  only 
ones  that  knew  it,  and  he  impressed  on  me  the  necessity  of 
keeping  it  a  secret  so  it  could  not  reach  his  father.  I  was 
thunderstruck,  for  only  the  Sunday  before  I  was  at  the  house, 
and  the  General  looked  fairly  well,  though  I  knew  he  was 
much  distressed.  He  told  me  that  he  had  been  working  on 
his  history,  and  writing  of  my  opening  the  middle  Tennessee 
by  rapid  construction  of  the  Nashville  &  Decatur  Railroad,  and 
said  that  while  T  was  an  excellent  soldier,  T  was  also  finely 
fitted  for  the  construction  of  the  railroad  on  account  of  my 
education  and  experience  as  a  Civil  Engineer. 

After  a  long  talk,  I  told  Colonel  Fred  that  General  Sher 
man  was  in  the  city,  and  suggested  going  down  and  telling 
the  General  how  sick  his  father  was,  and  have  him  come  up. 
We  went  to  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel;  found  the  General  with 
Wm.  McCrory,  of  Minneapolis,  formerly  on  his  staff,  also  a 
staff  officer  who  was  examining  some  papers.  The  General 
said  he  was  in  good  health ;  was  troubled  some  with  asthma, 
but  was  full  of  work  and  attending  meetings,  etc.  Colonel 
Fred  said  to  General  Sherman : 

I  think  my  father's  history  tells  more  of  what  you  did  than 
your  own  Memoirs. 

Sherman  said : 

Well,  when  Grant  writes  anything,  we  can  all  depend 
on  getting  the  facts.  When  he  writes  and  says  himself  what 
was  done  and  what  he  saw,  no  soldiers  need  fear;  but  when 
others  write  what  he  does  and  says,  it  is  not  always  so. 

Colonel  Fred  said  his  father  had  been  having  considerable 
trouble  with  the  publishers  or  editors  of  the  magazine  who 
were  to  publish  the  war  articles — Shiloh,  Vicksburg,  Wilder- 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  Ill 

ness  and  Appomatt.ox— that  they  had  made  his  father  very 
angry—they  wanted  him  to  change  the  word  "Rebel"  in  his 
article  to  ''Confederate"  and  the  word  "Union"  to  "Feder 
al."  He  said  that  finally  the  General  wrote  a  short  letter, 
demanding  that  his  articles  be  published  as  written.  Fred 
further  said  that  his  father  had  written  three  articles  hut  he 
did  not  believe  that  he  would  write  any  more. 

v>t;>. 

Sherman  said : 

Ml     '.) 

This  trying  to  soften  treason  by  expunging  the  words 
of  the  General  was  wrong,  and  that  if  it  kept  on,  pretty  soon 
the  sons  of  Southern  soldiers  would  consider  it  as  much  of  an 
honor  that  their  fathers  fought  under  Lee,  as  the  sons  of 
Union  soldiers,  that  their  fathers  fought  under  Grant ;  that  the 
line  of  Union  and  Rebel,  of  loyalty  and  treason,  should  be 
kept  always  distinct. 

I  answered: 

As  long  as  our  veterans  live  it  will  be;  but  the  tendency 
all  the  time  is,  to  wipe  out  history,  to  forget  it,  forgive,  ex 
cuse  and  soften,  and  when  all  the  soldiers  pass  from  this  age 
it  will  be  easy  to  slip  into  the  idea,  that  one  side  was  as  good 
as  the  other. 

Sherman  said : 

It  was  a  conspiracy  until  Sumpter  was  fired   upon  ;  after 

that    a  Rebellion. 

1 

Governor  Woodford  came  in  and  Sherman  related  to  him 
what  Fred  Grant  had  said  but  he  made  no  response.  Fred 
also  said  his  father  had  written  his  life  from  boyhood  to 
Donelson;  had  written  Shiloh,  Vicksburg,  Granada,  Chatta 
nooga,  and  the  march  of  Sherman  from  Memphis  to  Chatta 
nooga  and  the  Wilderness.  He  said  his  father  had  omitted 
writing  for  four  days,  but  asked  me  to  come  up  and  see  him 
evenings. 

When  you  compare  the  sentiment  existing  then  with  that 
existing  today,  you  can  see  what  a  marked  change  has  come 
in  this  country.  Virginia  has  placed,  in  the  rotunda  of  the 


112 PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

capitol  in  Washington,  a  statute  of  General  Lee  in  a  confeder 
ate  uniform,  without  any  protest  from  our  country,  its  citizens, 
and  only  occasionally  one  from  the  veterans.    A  distinguished 
veteran  in  commenting  upon  this  said  that  he  visited  the  capi 
tol  with  a  view  of  looking  at  Lee  to  see  how  he  was  dressed, 
but  he  said  when  he  got  there,  it  was  a  bronze  statue  and  the 
only  indication  that  he  was  a  confederate  came  from  the  insig 
nia  on  the  Bronze,  but  he  said  he  did  not  feel  like  some  veter 
ans  did.     He  thought  if  Virginia  was  anxious  to  place  Lee  in 
the  capitol  alongside  of  Grant,  who  was  already  there,  it  was 
a  good  object  lesson  for  all  the  people  who  came  to  visit  it. 
for  when  they  looked  at  Lee,  they  would  at  the  same  time  look 
at  General  Grant,  who  received  Lee's  surrender  and  saved  the 
Union,  and  that  the  comparison  would  be  favorable  in  every 
case  to  the  Union. 

Right  after  our  interview,  General  Sherman  went  up  to 
see  General  Grant,  and  that  evening  I  saw  him  again.  He 
seemed  pleased  with  his  visit;  thought  General  Grant  was 
looking  well,  and  as  Colonel  Fred  Grant  had  requested  me  not 
to  tell  anyone  the  condition  his  father  was  in  for  fear  he  might 
see  it,  I  said  nothing  to  General  Sherman.  As  far  as  I  know, 
and  while  the  fact  that  General  Grant's  disease  was  a  fatal 
one,  it  was  kept  from  him  by  the  doctors;  also  by  the  fam 
ily,  but  I  believe  Grant  knew  it  because  from  that  time  on, 
he  made  great  efforts  to  finish  his  Memoirs,  and  the  fact  that 
as  soon  as  he  completed  his  Memoirs  he  commenced  failing 
rapidly,  and  within  ten  days  was  dead.  That  he  maintained 
his  strength  by  a  determination  to  finish  them  before  he  died, 
the  same  determination  he  showed  when  on  the  field,  and  this 
letter  he  wrote  Dr.  Douglas  in  July,  only  ten  days  before  he 
died,  shows  plainly  he  knew  his  end  was  near : 

1  ask  you  not  to  show  this  to  anyone,  unless  the  physicians 
you  consult  with,  until  the  end.  Particularly,  I  want  it  kept 
from  my  friends.  If  known  to  one  man,  the  papers  will  get  it 


PERSONAL  .RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  113 

It  would  only  distress  my  friends,  almost  beyond  endurance, 
to  know  it,  and,  by  reflex,  it  would  distress  me.  I  have  not 
changed  my  mind  materially,  since  I  wrote  you  before  in  the 
same  strain.  Now,  however,  I  know  that  I  gain  strength  some 
days,  but  when  I  do  go  back,  it  is  beyond  where  I  started  to 
improve.  I  think  the  chances  are  very  decidedly  in  favor  of 
your  being  able  to  keep  me  alive  until  the  change  of  weather, 
toward  winter.  Of  course,  there  are  contingencies  that  might 
arise  at  any  time  that  would  carry  me  off  very  suddenly. 

The  most  probable  of  these  is  choking. 

Under  the  circumstances,  life  is  not  worth  the  living.  I 
am  very  thankful  to  have  been  spared  this  long,  because  it  has 
enabled  me  to  practically  complete  the  work  in  which  I  take 
so  much  interest.  I  cannot  stir  up  strength  enough  to  review 
it  and  make  additions  and  subtractions  that  would  suggest 
themselves  to  anyone  else.  Under  the  above  circumstances,  I 
will  be  the  happiest,  the  most  pain  I  can  avoid.  If  there  is  to 
be  any  extraordinary  cure,  as  some  people  believe  there  is  to 
be,  it  will  develop  itself.  I  would  say,  therefore,  to  you  and 
your  colleagues,  to  make  me  as  comfortable  as  you  can.  If  it 
is  within  God's  providence  that  I  should  go  now,  I  am  ready 
to  obey  His  call  without  a  murmur.  I  would  prefer  going  nOw 
to  enduring  my  present  suffering  for  a  single  day. 

General  Grant  died  at  Mt.  Gregor  near  Saratoga,  New 
York,  on  July  23d,  1885.  I  was  absent  from  the  city,  but  the 
family  notified  me  and  I  returned  and  attended  the  funeral. 
He  was  universally  mourned  and  great  crowds  turned  out  to 
show  their  sympathy.  He  was  laid  in  a  tomb  or  receptacle, 
temporarily  constructed  for  this  purpose,  near  the  present  fine 
memorial  building. 

There  was  quite  a  contention  as  to  where  he  should  be  fin 
ally  laid  to  rest;  he  had  desired  to  be  buried  at  West  Point, 
but  for  the  fact  that  Mrs.  Grant  could  not  be  buried  there  by 
his  side  he  named  Galena  or  New  York  because  of  the  friend 
ships  shown  him  by  that  state  in  his  greatest  need.  His  fam 
ily  selected  New  York  City. 

I  was  called  upon  by  the  Boston  Journal,  on  his  death,  for 
an  estimate  of  his  character,  and  gave  this : 

General  Grant  is  measured  from  two  different  standpoints. 
First,  as  a  soldier  and  commander;  second,  as  a  civilian  and 


114 PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

statesman.  As  a  soldier  General  Grant  was  modest,  retiring, 
unassuming  and  easy  of  approach,  seldom  if  ever  showing  an 
ger;  standing  by  and  supporting  those  in  whom  he  trusted,  or 
upon  whom  he  had  placed  responsibilities,  even  in  their  fail 
ures,  if  he  believed  that  they  had  carried  out  his  commands 
to  the  best  of  their  ability,  and  with  the  full  strength  of  the 
force  under  them.  He  had  no  use  or  sympathy  for  an  officer 
who  in  battle  or  holding  any  position  did  not  use,  to  the 
utmost  limit  and  fight  to  the  utmost  strength,  every  person 
under  him.  With  General  Grant  such  action  on  the  part  of  an 
officer  covered  a  multitude  of  omissions.  His  strength  of 
character  is  well  illustrated  by  his  reply  when  asked  what  he 
claimed  for  the  Battle  of  the  Wilderness. 

It  is  well  known  that  Confederate  officers  maintain  the 
opinion  that  if  this  battle  had  been  fought  under  any  other 
commander,  the  results  ensuing  would  have  caused  a  retreat 
instead  of  an  advance.  General  Grant  answered,  "That  all  he 
claimed  was  that  after  that  battle  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
would  never  fear  Lee,  and  that  Lee's  losses  could  never  be 
replaced,  and  that  the  Union  troops  would  have  a  much  smaller 
force  to  meet  in  the  rest  of  the  campaign  than  they  had  en 
countered  at  the  beginning  of  the  Wilderness  fight." 

General  Grant's  fame  came  from  the  fact  that  he  was  gen 
erally  victorious,  and  finished  successfully  the  Civil  War,  bill 
the  vital  question  is:  Why  did  the  people,  with  the  unerring 
instinct,  look  to  this  unknown  man  when  there  were  many 
others  more  prominent  in  the  field,  who  were  gaining  great 
credit  whilst  he  was  under  a  ban,  even  after  his  first  great 
victories?  What  led  them  to  so  firmly  support  him  through 
all  the  time  he  was  in  the  midst  of  a  storm  of  abuse  ? 

My  answer  is  that  Grant  was  the  first  commander  who  gave 
the  North  to  understand  that  he  would  use  the  force  placed 
under  him  for  all  it  was  worth.  They  said:  "Here  at  last 
is  a  General  who  will  not  temporize,  who  will  not  compromise. 
and  who  will  fight  at  every  opportunity,  regardless  of  num 
bers,  and  will  attempt  to  capture  every  stronghold  of  the 
enemy  and  beat  down  his  armies  by  main  force." 

General  Grant  believed  that  the  North  had  superior  num 
bers  and  stronger  sinews  of  war,  which,  if  properly  used, 
would  cause  the  victory  to  finally  rest  with  him.  Superiority 
of  numbers  and  equipment  would  not  succeed  unless  used  with 
a  determination  and  continued  force  commensurate  with  their 
strength.  Grant  saw  this,  saw  that  the  nation  demanded  ac 
tion,  and  the  result  was  that  he  above  all  others,  met  this  de 
mand.  The  people  saw  it  and  demanded  his  services,  no  mat- 
tor  what  the  critics,  strategists  or  officials  said  of  him  or  his 


PERSONAL  RKCOLLKC'FIONS  OF  GRANT. 


acts,  and  today  the  world  admits  that  his  methods  in  war  are 
the  only  ones  to  bring  quick  and  sure  results. 

It  was  General  Grant's  determination  in  every  battle  to 
use  against  the  enemy  every  gun  at  his  command,  and  when 
his  battles  are  studied  it  is  wonderful  to  see  how  he  mar 
shaled  his  forces.  They  prove  that  he  had  the  genius  for  con 
centrating  and  fighting  his  command  upon  a  given  point; 
therefore,  it  was  mathematically  certain  that  in  the  end  he 
would  win.  He  tied  to  himself  with  hooks  of  steel  all  those 
who  served  under  him,  from  the  fact  that  he  sunk  his  own 
personality  in  his  endeavors  to  give  credit  and  honor  to  every 
one  who  successfully  took  part  in  any  battle  under  him. 

General  Grant  as  a  statesman:  As  the  years  pass  by  and 
his  acts  are  measured  by  the  results  of  his  administration,  it 
is  being  generally  admitted  that  he  was  equally  as  ^reat  a 
statesman  as  he  was  a  soldier. 

The  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  held  its  Re 
union  on  October  8th,  1889,  and  took  part  in  the  dedication 
of  the  Grant  Memorial  in  Lincoln  Park,  Chicago.  Mrs.  Grant 
was  present,  as  the  guest  of  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer,  and  the  So 
ciety  was  very  anxious  to  pay  their  respects  to  Mrs.  Grant.  I 
called  upon  her  at  Mrs.  Palmer's.  She  was  fearful  she  could 
not  go  through  the  ordeal  of  seeing  so  many  of  General  Grant's 
old  comrades,  many  of  whom  she  knew  personally;  but  I  as 
sured  her  that  the  comrades  would  avoid  anything  that  would 
bring  to  her  sad  memories.  With  the  aid  of  Mrs.  Palmer  I 
prevailed  upon  her  to  receive  the  old  army. 

At  2  o'clock  that  afternoon,  October  8th,  1889,  the  officers 
arrived  at  the  Palmer  mansion.  Mrs.  Palmer,  beautiful  in  a 
charming  costume,  received  them  and  they  were  escorted  into 
the  great  reception  room  to  the  right,  where  Mrs.  Grant  await 
ed  them.  The  widow  was  attired  in  black,  her  silvery  hair 
forming  a  halo  around  the  saddened  features.  A  meet  word 
of  welcome  was  on  her  lips  as  her  husband's  comrades  in  arms 
presented  themselves. 

The  veterans  were  deeply  affected.  They  approached  her 
with  reverence  that  was  almost  worship  —  the  woman  who  had 
been  the  companion  of  the  great  General  who  had  led  them  to 


HO  PERSONAL  .[{^COLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

victory.  Probably  no  General  was  surrounded  by  his  officers 
with  such  memories  of  devotion  as  he  whose  bronze  statin- 
was  unveiled  yesterday,  and  all  their  love  and  admiration  was 
given  to  the  wife  he  had  loved  so  well.  Mrs.  Grant  was  deep 
ly  affected.  Many  of  those  who  bowed  before  her  were  near 
and  dear  friends  of  the  long  ago.  They  had  fought  by  the  side 
of  General  Grant  when  the  fierce  clamor  of  war  had  echoed 
throughout  the  land,  and  they  had  been  his  friends  and  advis 
ers  when  peace  had  come.  A  tide  of  tender  memories  swept 
over  the  soul  of  that  silvery -haired  woman  as  she  saw  the  well- 
known  faces  and  it  well  nigh  overcame  her,  but  she  controlled 
herself  remarkably  well  and  passed  through  the  ordeal  with 
fortitude. 

The  hostess,  Mrs.  Palmer,  with  rare  tact,  turned  whai 
would  have  been  a  melancholy  reunion  into  a  pleasant,  enjoy 
able  social  event.,  The  veterans,  true  to  their  promise,  re 
frained  from  saddening  allusions  and  the  reception  passed  oft' 
most  pleasantly.  For  an  hour  the  officers  conversed  with 
their  honored  guest  and  then  they  departed. 

Mrs.  Palmer  said : 

Mrs.  Grant  has  been  deeply  touched  by  the  kindness 
shown  her. 

The  magnificence  of  the  demonstration  yesterday,  at  tin- 
dedication  of  the  monument,  gratified  her  beyond  expression. 
She  feels  exceedingly  well  today  and  T  really  believe  thai 
her  little  trip  will  be  a  great  benefit  to  her  physically.  Of 
course,  the  sad  memories  which  have  come  to  her  have  af 
fected  her,  but  she  has  not  been  overcome.  She  was  deeply 
touched  by  the  kind  greeting  given  her  at  the  park  ex 
ercises  yesterday.  Mrs.  Grant  was  sitting  in  such  a  position 
that  she  could  not  see  the  salutes  fired  from  the  boats  upon 
the  lake.  She  arose  to  change  her  position,  and,  catching  sight 
of  her,  the  vast  throng  greeted  her  most  heartily.  The  greet 
ing  was  unexpected,  as  Mrs.  Grant  had  no  thought  of  such  a 
thing  when  she  arose.  The  heartiness  with  which  she  has 
been  received  everywhere  and  the  sacredness  of  her  husband's 
memory  to  the  people  of  Chicago  have  been  sweet  to  her,  and 
she  will  never  forget  this  visit  to  our  city.  Her  heart,  she  says. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OK  GKA.VI.  11? 

will  always  be  warm  to  Chicago.     I  think,  moreover,  she  will 
probably  be  permanently  benefitted  in  health  by  her  visit  here. 

General  U.  S.  Grant  died  July  23,  1885.  Sooty  after  his 
death,  the  mayor  and  the  leading  citizens  of  the,  city  of  New 
York  organized  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  monument  to 
his  memory  in  the  city  of  NCAV  York.  They  progressed  suc 
cessfully  at  first  in  this  work,  until  something  like  $150,000  had 
been  subscribed.  They  advertised  for  plans ;  many  were  sub 
mitted,  and  that  of  Mr.  Duncan  accepted;  then  the  matter 
halted  and  lay  dormant  until  the  21st  day  of  March,  1892, 
when  General  Horace  Porter  called  together  a  small  number 
of  General  Grant's  friends  at  the  Union  League  Club,  in  New 
York,  and  an  organization  was  made  of  which  General  Porter 
was  president,  and  T  was  vice  president. 

General  Porter  took  up  the  active  work  of  raising  the  bal 
ance  of  the  sum  needed  to  carry  out  the  plans  that  had  been 
presented  by  Mr.  Duncan,  and  adopted  by  the  original  com 
mittee,  an  estimated  cost  of  which  was  about  $600,000. 

General  Porter  spent  day  and  night  addressing  the  people 
of  the  city,  until  he  had  organized  215  committees,  represent 
ing  all  trade  industries,  etc.,  which  wrere  actively  at  work,  and 
General  Porter  would  come  in  from  the  field  about  midnight 
and  report  to  us  his  success  in  the  work,  and  plans  would 
be  laid  for  the  next  day's  work,  and  in  forty  days,  by  his 
personal  efforts,  there  had  been  subscribed  the  needed  sum. 
The  work  had  progressed  so  successfully  that  on  April  28th. 
1892,  arrangements  were  made  for  the  laying  of  the  corner 
stone  of  the  monument  in  the  park  where  it  now  is  located  on 
Riverside. 

At  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone,  the  president  of  the 
United  States  with  his  cabinet  members,  Mrs.  Grant  and  fam 
ily,  the  diplomatic  corps,  many  distinguished  officers  of  the 
army  and  navy,  representatives  of  the  G.  A.  R.,  patriotic  so 
cieties,  and  many  citizens  generally,  took  part.  There  were 
some  three  thousand  seats  reserved  which  were  occupied  by 


118  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

the  guests  and  by  members  of  different  trades  and  professions 
who  were  taking  part  in  raising  funds  for  the  building  of  the 
monument. 

General  Porter  presided  and  delivered  the  address,  giving 
an  account  of  the  monument;  and  the  corner  stone  was  laid 
by  President  Harrison  with  a  " Golden  Trowel."  He  said: 

No  orator,  however  gifted,  can  over  praise  General  Grant. 
The  most  costly  and  impressive  structure  that  the  architect  can 
plan  or  wealth  execute,  is  justifiable  when  the  name  of  Grant 
is  inscribed  upon  its  base.  This  stone,  which  has  now  been 
laid,  accompanied  by  this  magnificent  expression  of  popular 
interest,  is  only  the  top  stone  of  a  foundation.  It  speaks  to 
us  of  a  structure  imposing  and  graceful  in  its  completeness, 
which  shall  rise  from  this  supporting  base. 

Then  the  Honorable  Chauncy  Depew  delivered  an  oration 
which  was  received  with  great  applause.  It  was  estimated 
that  about  one  million  people  turned  out  to  witness  the 
procession,  a  large  portion  of  which  assembled  at  the  location 
of  the  tomb. 

The  Grant  monument  was  dedicated  on  April  27th,  1897. 
The  mayor  of  the  city  called  together  friends  of  General  Grant 
and  made  the  preliminary  organization  by  appointing  and  com 
missioning  me  as  the  Grand  Marshal  of  the  parade.  President 
McKinley  was  to  review  the  parade  and  General  Horace  Porter 
was  to  deliver  the  oration.  The  arrangements  for  the  parade 
were  the  most  extensive  ever  made  in  New  York,  and  I  was 
over  a  month  attending  to  the  details  and  completing  the  ar 
rangements. 

T  had  a  very  efficient  staff,  consisting  of  Colonel  H.  C.  Cor 
bin,  General  T.  P.  Rodenbough,  A.  Noel  Blakeman,  Captain 
John  A.  Johnson,  Lieut.  Wm.  E.  Horton,  and  Colonel  William 
C.  Sanger  as  the  working  force,  and  Captain  Chester  of  the 
United  States  navy  who  was  in  charge  of  the  naval  parade  for 
me,  and  200  volunteer  aides.  The  parade  marched  fnnn  Madi 
son  Square  to  the  tomb,  about  four  miles,  and  was  in  three 
irraml  divisions. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 119 

The  first  division — the  regular  army,  the  militia  and  ma 
rines.  The  second — the  Grand  Army  and  the  Patriotic  Or 
ganizations  and  societies.  The  third — the  Civic  Division.  Of 
the  regular  army,  militia  and  cadets,  there  were  sixty  thou 
sand  in  line.  Of  the  Grand  Army  and  patriotic  societies,  about 
twenty-five  thousand,  and  of  the  Civic  Procession  about  twen 
ty-five  thousand — the  largest  parade  ever  seen  in  New  York, 
and  it  was  from  1:30  to  6:30  P.  M.,  closed  in  solid  column, 
passing  the  review  stand. 

The  day  was  a  cold,  windy,  uncomfortable  day,  but  the 
police  estimated  that  over  three  million  of  people  lined  the 
sidewalks,  and  whilst  there  were  bleechers  along  the  road  to 
accommodate  fifty  thousand  people,  it  was  so  cold  and  windy 
that  many  of  them  were  deserted,  people  lining  up  on  the 
sidewalks,  and  the  handling  of  the  crowd  by  the  police  was 
simply  perfect. 

The  guests,  many  of  the  noted  people  of  the  United  States, 
including  the  President  and  Cabinet,  General  Grant's  family, 
diplomatic  representatives  of  every  nation,  Congress  and  Exe 
cutive  officers  and  their  representatives  of  every  state,  occu 
pied  seats  around  the  reviewing  stand.  The  naval  parade  in 
cluded  many  of  the  United  States  ships,  and  a  representation 
of  naval  ships  from  nearly  every  country.  At  the  reviewing 
stand  there  were  seats  for  five  thousand  people.  The  naval 
parade  lined  up  along  the  Hudson  River,  from  the  tomb  clear 
down  to  the  Battery.  The  dean  of  the  diplomats,  Lord  Paunce- 
fote,  wrote  me  a  letter  complimenting  me  as  to  the  perfection 
of  the  arrangements  and  the  ability  with  which  the  large  mass 
was  handled.  T  also  received  from  foreign  countries  requests 
for  my  orders. 

I  arranged  the  formation  of  the  parade  so  that  the  troops 
should  not  stand  on  the  side  streets  more  than  half  an  hour 
before  they  fell  into  line.  I  ascertained  the  time  that  each 
command  would  take  its  place  in  the  column  by  marching  a 
company  of  troops  from  Governor's  Island,  from  the  Madison 


120  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

Square  to  the  monument  and  past  to  the  dismissal  of  the  pa 
rade,  taking  the  time  they  passed  each  street,  the  time  for 
resting,  and  in  this  way,  knowing  the  number  of  troops  in 
each  command,  was  enabled  to  place  the  troops  and  veterans, 
the  civic  organizations,  so  that  no  one  had  to  wait  over  half 
an  hour.  The  last  formation  fell  into  line  about  4:30  o'clock 

The  address  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  was  a 
very  fine  one ;  but  the  oration  of  General  Horace  Porter  was  a 
remarkable  one,  one  of  the  finest  probably  ever  delivered  in 
this  country,  and  there  was  no  person  better  equipped,  per 
haps,  than  General  Horace  Porter,  to  tell  the  multitude  of 
General  Grant  and  what  he  had  accomplished.  His  closing- 
words  in  the  dedication  of  the  Grant  tomb.  April  27.  1897. 
were : 

Most  of  the  conspicuous  characters  in  history  have  risen 
to  prominence  by  gradual  steps,  but  the  senior  of  the  Trium 
virate,  whose  features  are  recalled  to  us  today,  came  before 
the  people  with  a  sudden  bound.  Almost  the  first  sight  caught 
of  him  was  in  the  blaze  of  his  camp-fires  and  the  flashes  of  his 
guns  those  wintry  days  and  nights  in  front  of  Donelson.  From 
that  time  until  the  closing  triumph  at  Appomattox  the  great 
central  figure  of  the  war  was  Ulysses  S.  Grant.  As  light  and 
shade  produce  the  most  attractive  effects  in  a  picture,  the 
singular  contrasts,  the  strange  vicissitudes  of  his  eventful  life 
surround  him  with  an  interest  which  attaches  to  few  characters 
in  history.  His  rise  from  an  obscure  Lieutenant  to  the  com 
mand  of  the  veteran  armies  of  the  great  Republic;  his  transi 
tion  from  a  frontier  post  of  the  untrodden  West  to  the  Execu 
tive  Mansion  of  the  nation;  his  sitting  at  one  time  in  a  little 
store  in  Galena,  not  even  known  to  the  Cogressman  from  his 
district;  at  another  time  striding  through  the  palaces  of  the 
old  world,  with  the  descendants  of  a  line  of  kings  rising  and 
standing  with  uncovered  heads  in  his  presence.  These  are 
some  of  the  features  of  his  marvelous  career  which  appeal  to 
the  imagination,  excite  men's  wonder  and  fascinate  all  who 
make  a  study  of  his  life. 

He  was  created  for  great  emergencies.  It  was  the  very 
magnitude  of  the  task  which  called  forth  the  powers  which 
mastered  it.  In  ordinary  matters  he  was  an  ordinary  man ;  in 
momentous  affairs  he  towered  as  a  giant.  When  performing 
the  routine  duties  of  a  company  post  there  was  no  act  to  make 


PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 


him  conspicuous  above  his  fellow  officers,  but  when  he  wielded 
Corps  and  Armies  the  great  qualities  of  the  Commander  flashed 
forth,  and  his  master  strokes  of  genius  stamped  him  as  the 
foremost  soldier  of  his  age.  When  he  hauled  wood  from  his 
little  farm  and  sold  it  in  St.  Louis  his  financiering  was  hardly 
equal  to  that  of  the  small  farmers  about  him,  but  when  a  mes 
sage  was  to  be  sent  by  a  President  to  Congress  that  would 
puncture  the  fallacies  of  the  inflationists  and  throttle,  by  a 
veto,  the  attempt  of  unwise  legislators  to  cripple  the  finances 
of  the  Nation,  a  State  paper  was  produced  which  has  ever  since 
commanded  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  every  believer  in 
sound  currency.  He  was  made  for  great  things,  not  for  little 
things.  He  could  collect  fifteen  millions  from  Great  Britain  in 
settlement  of  the  Alabama  claims;  he  could  not  protect  his 
own  personal  savings  from  the  miscreants  who  robbed  him  in 
Wall  street. 

If  there  is  one  word  which  describes  better  than  any 
other  the  predominating  characteristic  of  his  nature,  that 
word  is  loyalty.  He  was  loyal  to  his  friends,  loyal  to  his  fam 
ily,  loyal  to  his  country,  and  loyal  to  his  God.  This  trait  nat 
urally  produced  a  reciprocal  effect  upon  those  who  were 
brought  into  relations  with  him  and  was  one  of  the  chief  rea 
sons  why  men  became  so  loyally  attached  to  him.  Many  a 
public  man  has  had  troops  of  adherents  who  clung  to  him  only 
for  the  patronage  dispensed  at  his  hands,  or  being  dazzled  by 
his  power,  became  blind  partisans  to  a  cause  he  represented, 
but  perhaps  no  other  man  than  General  Grant  ever  had  so 
many  friends  who  loved  him  for  his  own  sake,  whose  affec 
tion  only  strengthened  with  time,  whose  attachment  never 
varied  in  its  devotion,  whether  he  was  General  or  President,  or 
simply  a  private  citizen. 

Even  the  valor  of  his  martial  deeds  was  surpassed  by  the 
superb  heroism  he  displayed  when  fell  disease  attacked  him  : 
when  the  hand  which  had  seized  the  surrendered  swords  of 
countless  thousands  was  no  longer  able  to  return  the  pres 
sure  of  a  comrade's  grasp,  when  he  met  in  death  the  first 
enemy  to  whom  he  ever  surrendered.  But  with  him  death 
brought  eternal  rest,  and  he  was  permitted  to  enjoy  what  he 
had  pleaded  for  in  behalf  of  others  —  for  the  Lord.had  let  him 
have  peace. 

Whilst  we  were  constructing  the  Grant  memorial  in  New 
York  City,  our  contract  provided,  to  comply  with  the  wishes 
of  General  Grant,  that  arrangements  should  be  made  in  the 
crypt  for  two  sarcophaguses,  lying  side  by  side,  one  for  the  use 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 


of  General  Grant,  and  the  other  for  Mrs.  Grant.  For  some  rea 
son  only  the  one  sarcophagus  was  at  first  provided,  which 
worried  Mrs.  Grant  very  much,  and  she  wrote  me  in  relation 
to  it  and  often  spoke  to  me  about  it ;  but  I  assured  her  the  de 
lay  was  simply  the  inability  of  the  contractors  to  get  a  sarco 
phagus  of  the  same  material  exactly  as  that  of  General  Grant's. 

When  I  wrote  her  that  we  had  obtained  the  material  and 
had  placed  a  sarcophagus  in  the  tomb  alongside  of  General 
Grant's,  she  wrote  me  a  letter  telling  me  how  greatly  it  had 
relieved  her  anxiety.  She  said  to  me  that  when  General  Grant 
and  herself  were  in  Europe  they  paid  a  visit  to  the  tomb  of 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  both  lying  side  by  side  in  the  tomb. 
The  thought  of  the  royal  couple  sleeping  side  by  side  for  cen 
turies  appealed  to  General  Grant,  and  turning  to  her,  he  said : 
•'Julia,  this  is  the  way  we  should  be  in  death." 

General  Grant,  no  doubt,  had  this  in  mind,  when  in  a  mem 
orandum  he  stated  that  he  preferred  West  Point  as  his  burial 
place,  but  for  the  fact  that  his  wife  could  not  be  placed  be 
side  him,  named  Galena  or  New  York. 

On  December  14th,  1902,  Mrs.  Grant  died  in  Washington. 
I  happened  to  be  in  the  city  and  immediately  went  to  the 
house  and  found  Mrs.  Sartoris,  her  daughter,  the  only  one  of 
the  family  present.  General  F.  D.  Grant  and  family  being  on 
duty  in  Ft.  Houston,  Texas,  and  the  other  two  sons,  Ulysses 
S.  and  Jessie,  and  their  families,  living  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 
And  at  Mrs.  Sartoris'  request  I  immediately  took  charge  of  all 
the  arrangements  for  burial,  communicating  immediately  with 
General  Frederick  D.  Grant  at  Ft.  Houston,  who  also  asked 
me  to  take  -charge. 

General  Frederick  D.  Grant  and  family  soon  returned  and 
the  War  Department  came  promptly  to  our  aid  and  made  pro 
vision  for  taking  the  families  and  funeral  cortege  to  New  York. 
After  the  ceremonies  in  Washington,  we  took  the  remains  to 
New  York  where  the  Grant  Memorial  Association  took  charge 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 123 

of  them,  and  made  all  the  arrangements  for  placing  her  in  the 
stone  receptacle,  alongside  of  her  husband,  where  she  had 
been  so  anxious  to  lie. 

She  was  a  devoted  wife,  Julia  Dent  Grant.  After  every 
campaign  she  visited  General  Grant,  and  was  welcomed  by 
everyone  in  his  command.  She  had  a  kindly,  gracious  way 
that  captured  us.  The  officers  who  had  annoyances  and  griev 
ances  they  could  not  take  to  the  General  and  his  staff,  ap 
pealed  to  Mrs.  Grant.  She  was  very  diplomatic  and  knew 
which  to  consider,  and  which  she  could  not  take  up  with  the 
General,  and  many  an  officer  could  thank  her  for  interceding 
and  straightening  out  his  grievance.  We  went  to  her  with 
great  confidence  in  what  she  could  do.  Although  she  always 
asserted  that  she  had  no  influence  in  army  matters,  T  noticed 
none  of  us  was  ever  concerned  about  or  censured  for  our  ap 
peals  to  Mrs.  Grant,  and  there  was  no  soldier  who  did  not  love 
to  see  her  with  the  army,  and  who  did  not  regret  her  depart 
ure.  During  General  Grant's  administrations,  his  troubles  and 
his  sickness,  she  was  always  the  same.  She  straightened  out 
many  little  contentions,  and  a  suggestion  to  the  General  often 
pointed  the  way  to  settle  many  little  annoyances.  After  Gen 
eral  Grant's  death  I  saw  much  of  her.  and  was  charmed  with 
the  great  number  of  incidents  she  had  stored  away,  and  her 
great  memory  for  what  happened.  At  our  army  reunions  we 
always  had  a  word  from  her,  and  sent  her  our  greetings,  and 
they  were  happy  mile-stones  in  her  life.  Many  happy  hours  I 
have  spent  with  her,  as  she  recalled  the  many  events  in  the 
General's  life,  and  any  of  his  comrades  received  a  hearty  wel 
come  from  her.  The  Nation  will  never  know  how  much  it  is  in 
debted  to  her  loyal  devotion  and  good  advice,  and  it  is  a  singu 
lar  fact  that  in  his  own  home  General  Grant  was  uneasy  and 
discontented  when  Mrs.  Grant  was  away.  He  was  devoted  and 
loyal  to-  her,  and  his  last  request  that  she  be  laid  at  his  side,  no 
matter  where  they  placed  him,  was  worthy  of  the  great  man,  as 
well  as  due  to  his  devoted  helpmate.  The  hold  she  had,  not 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 


only  on  her  country  but  on  all  others,  was  shown  by  the  uni 
versal  response  at  her  death  and  the  great  respect  shown  her 
as  we  laid  her  beside  the  General  at  Riverside. 

My  relations  with  General  Grant  during  the  war  were  of 
the  greatest  interest,  and  his  marked  frindship  for  me  on 
many  occasions,  his  recommendations  for  promotion  to  higher 
command,  were  of  untold  benefit,  for  I  was  a  young  officer. 
holding  commands  all  the  time  I  served  under  General  Grant 
that  I  was  not  entitled  to  by  my  rank,  but  was  held  in  them 
until  promotion  came  to  me. 

After  the  war  my  residence  and  occupation  brought  me 
often  with  General  Grant  and  his  family,  and  I  was  often  a 
visitor  to  his  home.  When  his  son,  Frederick  Dent  Grant. 
graduated  from  West  Point,  General  Grant,  I  think,  had  an 
idea  of  paving  him  go  into  business  rather  than  into  the  army  ; 
and  he  sent  him  out  to  me  to  have  him  placed  in  an  engineer 
ing  corps,  and  I  gave  him  a  position  in  one  of  the  corps  that 
was  making  surveys  in  Colorado  while  we  were  building  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad. 

When  he  joined  the  party  he  made  himself  one  of  them— 
acceptable  to  them,  assuming  nothing  on  his  relations  or  his 
rank  as  a  Lieutenant  in  the  Army,  and  performed  his  duty  the 
same  as  all  the  others,  and  won  the  respect  and  love  of  the 
party.  He  remained  with  the  party  until  he  went  with  Gen 
eral  Sherman  on  his  trip  abroad. 

After  General  Grant's  death,  the  friendship  of  Mrs.  Grant 
and  family  grew  into  a  family  affection,  and  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  of  my  Regiment,  the 
Fourth  Iowa,  and  the  Dodge  Battery,  at  my  home  in  Council 
Bluffs,  Iowa,  October  1.1th,  1911,  Major-Gen  eral  Frederick 
Dent  Grant  paid  me  this  fine  tribute  : 

General  Dodge,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  Veterans  of  the  Fourth 

Iowa  Regiment  and  of  the  Dodge  Battery  : 

I  am  grateful  to  be  with  you  here,  and  I  feel  deeply  hon 
ored  in  receiving  your  kind  welcome  to  the  son  of  one  who 
was  your  friend  and  comrade  —  General  IT.  S.  Grant. 


MAJOR- GENERAL  FREDERICK  D.  GRANT 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 


No  distance,  no  duties  —  nothing  —  could  prevent  my  coming 
to  Council  Bluffs  to  meet  you  on  this  occasion  and  to  greet 
your  former  Colonel,  Iowa's  distinguished  citizen,  General 
Grenville  M.  Dodge,  for  whom  my  father  and  my  father's  son 
have  cherished  always  a  heartfelt  admiration  and  friendship. 

I  wish  to  add  my  tribute  of  praise  and  thanks  to  him 
whose  work  and  deeds  have  been  an  honor  to  his  country. 
Fortunately  for  me,  I  was  with  my  father  much  of  the  time 
during  those  dark  days  of  the  Civil  War,  and  through  that  ter 
rible  struggle  for  the  Union,  I,  as  a  boy,  witnessed  that  untir 
ing  devotion  to  duty,  loyalty  and  unflinching  courage  of  those 
noble,  great  men  whose  names  must  shine  forever  upon  the 
rolls  of  honor  in  the  archives  of  our  Nation.  I  am  thankful 
to  have  seen  and  knowrn  those  heroes.  I  rejoice  in  having  dis 
tinct,  personal  recollections  of  those  distinguished  Americans 
who,  putting  aside  all.  selfish  or  personal  interests,  when  their 
country  was  in  need,  when  the  Northern  people  were  discour 
aged,  hastened  with  grim  determination  to  sacrifice  their  all, 
their  lives  if  necessary,  foT  the  restoration  of  peace  in  our 
land. 

It  is  to  those  heroes  of  our  northern  armies,  to  General 
Dodge,  to  you  veterans  here,  and  to  those  others,  your  com 
rades  gone  before,  that  we  owe  this  great,  beautiful  country, 
with  North  and  South  united,  resting  in  that  peace  and  har 
mony  in  which  this  present  generation  so  triumphs. 

I  have  known  and  heard  always  of  your  loyal  heroism  and 
that  of  your  Colonel,  but  I  wish  to  speak  a  word  now,  not  only 
of  heroes  but  of  a  friend  for  whom  I  have  cherished  always  the 
warmest  admiration  and  affection,  inherited  from  father  and 
ever  increasing  throughout  my  long  association  with  him.  I 
refer  to  your  much  loved  citizen,  General  Dodge. 

I  yield  to  no  one,  not  to  you,  his  veteran  comrades;  not 
to  your  State  of  Iowa,  nor  to  his  own  family  and  nearest 
friends,  as  possessing  a  warmer  or  deeper  feeling  of  devotion 
than  my  own  for  General  Dodge.  In  this  affection  my  son, 
Ulysses  S.  Grant,  III,  and  all  my  family  join  me. 

It  was  to  General  Dodge  I  confided  my  distress  and  grief 
in  first  learning  that  my  dear  father  was  stricken  with  a  fatal 
illness  and  his  days  were  numbered.  When  I  learned  also  of 
that  other  great  sorrow  which  came  to  our  family  in  the  pass 
ing  away  of  my  mother,  I  again  turned  to  General  Dodge  for 
sympathy  and  found  him  as  always,  ready  to  extend  heartfelt 
friendship  and  condolence. 

Like  all  brave  and  truly  great  men,  he  has  a  warm  and 
tender  heart  upon  which  his  friends  may  rely  always  with  con 
fidence. 


126  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 

The  happy  gathering  of  veterans  recalls  to  mind  vividly 
the  great  victories  and  that  national  glory  won  by  the  Union 
forces  during  the  Civil  War — those  heroes  of  the  Army  who 
in  that  fearful  strife,  by  their  sacrifices  and  valor,  secured 
for  us  in  reality  and  in  fact,  what  our  ancestors  had  organ 
ized  in  theory — namely,  a  land  of  Liberty  and  United  Nation. 

Let  us  never  forget  that  to  you  heroes  of  the  Union 
armies  we  owe  all  this  in  which  we  now  triumph. 

My  happiest  hours  are  those  passed  with  you?  General 
Dodge,  and  the  other  comrades  of  my  father.  This  associa 
tion,  with  my  name,  is  my  proudest  heritage  . 

I  am  very  grateful  to  be  with  you  here,  and  thank  you 
again  for  your  kindness. 

On  April  12,  1912,  another  great  sorrow  came  to  General 
Grant's  family  in  the  sudden  death  of  Major-Gen eral  Frederick 
Dent  Grant  of  the  United  States  Army,  he  being  about  the  age 
of  his  father  at  the  time  of  his  death.  He  stood  very  high  in 
the  records  of  the  War  Department.  When  President  McKinley 
made  him  a  Brigadier-General  in  the  regular  army,  he  said  to 
me:  "He  needs  no  outside  influence  or  recommendations;  his 
record  in  the  War  Department  entitles  him  to  this  promotion." 
He  was  universally  liked  by  the  army  and  by  all  those  who 
knew  him. 

He  had  many  of  his  father's  characteristics,  much  more 
than  any  other  member  of  the  family,  and  it  was  generally 
conceded  that,  in  case  of  war,  he  would  develop  many  of  the 
qualities  as  a  General  that  made  his  father  famous. 

To  the  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  his  death 
was  a  great  loss.  He  took  a  great  interest  in  his  father's 
comrades,  and  by  his  modest  and  winning  ways,  won  their 
affections  and  made  himself  universally  liked  and  respected  by 
them.  He  and  his  family  always  attended  the  Reunions. 

His  son,  Captain  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  III,  is  bravely  doing  his 
duty  in  command  of  the  United. States  Engineers  at  Vera  Cruz, 
Mexico,  where  his  grandfather  won  so  much  credit  as  a  Lieu 
tenant  in  the  Mexican  war  of  1846-47. 

General  Grant,  in  discussing  the  criticisms  upon  himself, 
said  r 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  127 

Twenty  years  after  the  close  of  the  most  stupendous  war 
<'ver  known,  we  have  writers  who  profess  devotion  to>  the  na 
tion,  trying  to  prove  that  the  nation's  forces  were  not  victor 
ious.  Probably  they  say  we  were  slashed  around  from  Donel- 
son  to  Vicksburg  and  Chattanooga,  and  in  the  East,  Gettys 
burg  to  Appomattox,  when  the  physical  rebellion  gave  out 
from  sheer  exhaustion.  I  would  like  to  see  truthful  history 
written,  and  history  will  do  credit  to  the  courage,  endurance 
and  soldierly  ability  of  the  American  citizen,  no  matter  what 
section  of  the  country  lie  hailed  from,  or  in  what  ranks  he 
fought. 

Speaking  of  those  who  opposed  our  country  during  the 
war,  Grant  gave  this  opinion  : 

The  man  who  obstructs  a  war  in  which  his  nation  is  en 
gaged,  no  matter  whether  right  or  wrong,  occupies  no  enviable 
place  in  life  or  history.  The  most  charitable  post-humorous 
history  the  stay-at-home  traitor  can  hope  for  is  oblivion. 

The  facts  are,  that  thirty  years  ago  General  Grant  laid 
down  the  policies  that  the  country  maintains  today  on  all  great 
questions — the  maintenance  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  the  settle 
ment  of  all  disputes  by  arbitration,  the  currency,  gold  stand 
ards,  the  upbuilding  of  the  navy,  the  policy  in  the  West  Indies, 
acquisition  of  foreign  territory,  retirement  of  green-backs 
until  paid  out  for  gold,  and  the  education  of  our  people,  upon 
which  subject  nothing  more  clear  than  his  speech  at  Des 
Moines,  Iowa,,  has  ever  been  uttered.  It  has  always  been  an 
enigma  to  me  to  hear  people  speak  of  General  Grant,  and  say : 
"He  was  a  great  soldier  but  a  failure  in  civil  life,"  for  his 
standing  throughout  the  world  is  as  high  or  higher  for  his  acts 
as  a  civilian  as  for  the  great  victories  of  the  Civil  War.  Grant 
as  a  statesman  was  the  same  as  he  was  when  a  soldier.  When 
we  were  living  in  camp  and  not  on  a  campaign,  he  was  indo 
lent.  It  was  hard  to  get  a  reply  to  a  letter  or  dispatch,  or  get 
any  comfort  from  him,  but  the  moment  he  got  on  his  horse  to 
lead  a  campaign  it  seemed  as  though  he  anticipated  all  events. 
His  judgment  seemed  infallible,  his  decision  was  made  in- 


PERSONAL  .RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT. 


stantly,  and  the  answer  to  a  dispatch  or  letter  was  ready  the 
moment  he  read  it.  He  never  hesitated;  he  never  was  am 
biguous.  Any  person  receiving  a  letter  did  not  have  to  ask  a 
second  explanation,  and  he  greatly  objected  to  receiving  dis 
patches  expressing  doubts  during  a  campaign.  He  said  to  me 
that  he  never  doubted  what  I  could  or  would  do  from  my  dis 
patches,  and  seldom  if  ever  made  a  suggestion  upon  them. 
When  I  read  them  myself  now  I  am  absolutely  astonished  at 
the  positive  character  of  them,  and  their  bluntness.  To  the 
subordinates  he  trusted  he  gave  great  latitude  and  seemed  to 
have  the  utmost  confidence  in  their  success.  His  orders  to 
them  told  what  he  wanted  them  to  do,  leaving  to  them  all  de 
tails,  invariably  saying  if  they  needed  help  he  would  sup 
port  them.  He  tied  every  officer  and  soldier  to  him  with  bands 
of  steel,  for  he  invariably  gave  everyone  credit  for  what  they 
accomplished,  sinking  himself.  If  they  failed  and  he  consid 
ered  they  had  done  the  best  possible,  he  shielded  them,  and  as 
sumed  the  responsibility  of  the  failure. 

After  the  war  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  thrown  with 
General  Grant  a  good  deal,  and  I  was  associated  with  him  in 
some  of  his  enterprises,  such  as  the  railway  from  the  City  of 
Mexico  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  it  was  impossible  for  me  to 
meet  him  as  I  did  and  not  comprehend  that  he  was  in  civil 
life,  as  in  military  life,  of  that  peculiar  make-up  which  let 
small  matters  go  without  attention,  but  in  any  crisis  would 
rise  to  command  it.  He  was  so  modest  and  so  simple  that  his 
greatness  was  absolutely  forced  upon  one  from  his  very  acts. 
Nevertheless,  so  far  no  critic  in  this  nation,  or  any  other,  has 
ever  been  able  to  write  a  word  against  his  military  course  or 
civil  life  which  carried  strength  enough  to  be  mentioned  the 
second  time.  General  Grant's  greatness  was  admitted  long  be 
fore  he  left  our  shores,  and  although  a  simple  citizen,  he  was 
honored  as  no  one  ever  was  before,  and  his  simplicity  simply 
astonished  the  world.  Some  critics  of  General  Grant  have 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  GRANT.  129 

said  that  during  the  war  he  absorbed  from  others  many  of  his 
great  qualities  as  a  soldier,  but  no  one  can  read  the  war  rec 
ords  without  seeing  that  the  strength  of  his  dispatches  and 
orders,  the  boldness  of  his  plans,  his  fearless  attack  of  super 
ior  numbers,  and  his  decisive  victories  in  the  early  part  of  the 
war  were  equal  to  if  not  superior  to  those  of  the  last  year  of 
the  war. 

The  great  distinguishing  qualities  of  General  Grant  were 
truth,  courage,  modesty,  generosity  and  loyalty.  He  was  loyal 
to  every  work  and  every  cause  in  which  he  was  engaged — to 
his  friends,  his  family,  his  country  and  to  his  God,  and  it  was 
these  characteristics  which  bound  to  him  with  hooks  of  steel 
all  those  who  served  with  him.  He  absolutely  sunk  himself  to 
give  to  others  honor  and  praise  to  which  he,  himself,  was 
entitled.  No  officer  served  under  him  who  did  not  understand 
this.  I  was  a  young  man  and  given  much  larger  commands 
than  my  rank  entitled  me  to.  General  Grant  never  failed  to 
encourage  me  by  giving  me  credit  for  whatever  I  did,  or  tried 
to  do.  If  I  failed  he  assumed  the  responsibility;  if  I  succeeded 
he  recommended  me  for  promotion.  He  always  looked  at  the 
intention  of  those  who  served  under  him,  as  well  as  to  their 
acts.  If  they  failed  in  intention,  he  dropped  them  so  quickly 
and  efficiently  that  the  whole  country  could  see  and  hear  their 
fall. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  W.   T.   SHKRMAN,   1864 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF 
GENERAL  W.  T.  SHERMAN 


As  a  soldier  of  the  Union,  General  Sherman,  by  common 
consent,  stands  second  only  in  a  galaxy  of  great  commanders 
such  as  no  single  cycle  in  the  annals  of  time  can  parallel.  This 
is  the  verdict  of  the  most  superficial  reader  and  of  the  most 
diligent  student  of  history. 

A  reference  to  the  official  list  of  battles,  skirmishes,  and 
other  contests  from  April  15th,  1861,  to  the  close  of  the  war, 
develops  the  astounding  fact  that  for  every  day,  including 
Sundays,  of  those  four  years  there  were  at  least  three  of  these 
struggles.  If  in  such  a  death  grapple  General  Sherman  rose 
to  the  highest  rank  and  command  among  the  victors,  it  can 
not  but  be  interesting  to  turn  back  to  the  circumstances  of 
his  parentage  and  scan  the  surroundings  of  his  youth  to  find, 
if  we  can,  the  formative  influences  which  moulded  the  plastic 
tendencies  of  his  nature  into  the  lofty  and  harmonious  indi 
viduality  which  marked  him  out  for  eminent  leadership. 

Both  his  father  and  grandfather  had  been  learned  in  the 
law.  His  father  not  only  mastered  the  intricacies  of  Coke 
and  Littleton,  but  made  himself  familiar  with  whatever  was 
worthy  reading  outside  of  the  books  of  the  law,  and  was  there 
fore  fitted  to  shine  in  the  domain  of  general  literature,  as  well 
as  in  the  realm  of  technical  jurisprudence.  It  was  this  gifted 
man  who,  when  his  third  son  was  born,  proposed  to  bestow 
upon  him  the  name  of  a  celebrated  chieftain — as  if  seeing  the 
child's  future  military  career.  Judge  Sherman  entertained  a 
warm  admiration  for  the  celebrated  Indian  chief,  Tecumseh, 
and  this  singular  Indian  was  gifted  with  rare  endowments, 
which  gave  him  great  prominence  amongst  his  tribal  allies,  and 


132  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  > 

a  commanding  influence  over  his  followers  of  the  forest.  Na 
ture  had  made  him  a  soldier,  and  he  was  a  statesman  by  intui 
tion.  Farseeing  in  plan,  wary  to  win,  sagacious  to  combine, 
and  inflexible  to  execute,  these  qualities  made  him  a  formid 
able  leader  and  also  a  dangerous  opponent.  He  was  not  habit 
ually  ruthless  or  cruel  in  his  warfare ;  on  the  contrary,  many 
acts  of  mercy,  of  generous  chivalric  protection,  are  recorded 
of  him  that  would  grace  the  annals  of  the  knight  errantry  of 
old.  It  was  the  name  of  this  renowned  Indian  that  Judge 
Sherman  bestowed  upon  the  new-born  son.  Shortly  after,  at  a 
social  gathering  in  his  house,  Judge  Sherman  was  remon 
strated  with,  half  in  play  and  half  in  earnest,  for  perpetuating 
in  his  family  the  savage  Indian  name.  He  only  replied,  but 
it  was  with  seriousness,  "Tecumseh  was  a  great  warrior,"  and 
the  affair  of  the  name  was  settled,  never  to  be  changed,  even 
as  in  the  case  of  General  Grant  by  dictum  of  West  Point  and 
the  War  Department. 

A  single  apt  remark  will  sometimes  reveal  to  the  experi 
enced  and  observant,  a  clearer  view  than  will  be  produced  by 
long  and  labored  description.  Such  a  remark  General  Sher 
man  once  made  to  a  lady,  and  the  story  was  narrated  by  her  to 
a  party  of  friends,  since  the  General's  death.  She  was,  many 
years  ago,  visiting  her  intimate  friends,  the  family  of  Judge 
Wright,  in  Washington,  where  she  frequently  met  General 
Sherman  and  his  brother,  the  distinguished  Senator.  The 
Wrights  and  the  Shermans,  as  she  learned,  had  been  next- 
door  neighbors  in  childhood,  and  in  their  childhood  days  both 
families  were  large.  On  one  occasion  the  General,  in  his  ani 
mated  way,  was  describing  to  this  young  lady  how  the  two 
families  of  children  had  been  accustomed  to  constantly  play 
with  each  other,  there  being  a  private  gateway  giving  com 
munication  between  the  two  houses.  At  this  point  the  young 
lady  remarked  that  she  "wondered  that  they  had  not  some 
times  got  mixed  up  when  bedtime  came." 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  133 

"Oh,"  said  the  General,  laughingly,  in  his  quick,  impulsive 
way,  "we  were  mixed  up  all  the  time;  there  was  a  nightly 
swapping  of  bed-fellows,  and  neither  mother  could  be  always 
sure  whether  her  boys  were  sleeping  at  home  or  at  her  neigh 
bors." 

At  another  time  the  General  confided  to  her  the  interesting 
fact  that  he  used  to  enjoy  stealing  Dominie  Wright's  Sunday 
stock  of  kindling  wood,  late  on  Saturday  evening,  on  account 
of  the  supposed  embarrassment  that  would  result  to  the  pious 
preacher  on  the  morrow — thus  giving  away  the  secret  that  he 
had  been  subject  to  some  of  the  weaknesses  of  the  average 
boy. 

Professor  Howe  was  for  many  years  an  educator  of  con 
siderable  local  reputation  in  an  Iowa  town.  During,  and  sub 
sequent  to,  the  war  he  was  in  the  habit  of  telling  on  all  fitting 
occasions,  with  great  pride,  of  his  having  been  in  former  years 
the  instructor  of  the  Sherman  children,  in  Lancaster,  Ohio. 
They  were,  according  to  his  story,  very  promising  and  very 
interesting  pupils,  on  the  whole,  but  very  obstreperous  on 
some  occasions,  before  he  finally  succeeded  in  getting  them 
under  control.  To  get  to  this  control  he  found  it  necessary' 
to  give  the  brothers  a  sound  thrashing.  They  resisted :  the 
battle  was  fierce  and  protracted,  but  the  pedagogue  came  out 
the  conqueror,  though  himself  in  a  sadly  dilapidated  condition. 

After  Sherman  became  General  of  the  Army,  a  gentleman, 
who  had  heard  this  story,  happened  to  be  traveling  with  Gen 
eral  Sherman  up  the  Hudson  river  to  West  Point.  During 
the  conversation  with  the  General  it  occurred  to  him  to  ask 
the  question:  "General,  did  you  ever  attend  the  school  of  a 
certain  Professor  Howe?"  ''Sam  Howe?"  was  the  response, 
"Why  yes,  he  used  to  lick  John  and  me  like  hell." 

This  was  regarded  as  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  the  afore 
said  story.  When  Professor  Howe  died  at  an  advanced  age, 
a  few  years  ago1,  one  of  his  children  mailed  a  copy  of  his 


134  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

obituary  to  General  Sherman,  which  elicited  this  characteristic 
response : 

Headquarters,  U.  S.  Army, 

Washington,  D.  C.,  April  26,  1877. 
Warrington  Howe,  Esq. : 

Dear  Friend — I  have  received  your  letter,  with  the  news 
paper  slip  containing  the  full  and  just  tribute  to  your  father, 
the  late  Samuel  L.  Howe.  I  regret  extremely  that  in  iny  pre- 
ambulations  over  this  great  country  of  late  years  I  never  had 
the  chance  to  meet  your  father,  which  I  wanted  to  do.  And 
now,  though  forty  long,  eventful  years  have  passed  since  I 
left  his  school  at  Lancaster,  Ohio,  I  can  recall  his  personal  ap 
pearance  to  mind  as  clearly  as  though  it  were  yesterday.  I 
have  always  borne  willing  testimony  to  his  skill  and  merits  as 
a  teacher,  and  am  sure  that  the  thorough  modes  of  instruction 
pursued  by  him  prepared  me  for  easy  admission  to  West  Point, 
and  for  a  respectable  standing  in  my  class.  I  have  heard 
from  time  to  time  of  the  changes  that  attended  his  useful  ca 
reer,  and  am  glad  to  learn  that  he  left  behind  the  flourishing 
academy  at  Mt.  Pleasant,  Iowa,  with  children  qualified  to  take 
up  his  work  where  he  left  off,  and  carry  it  to  completion. 

I  beg  you  will  convey  to  your  mother  the  assurance  of 
my  great  respect  and  sympathy  in  her  affliction.  T  recall  her 
also  to  memory,  a  young  mother,  living  in  the  house  of  "Pap" 
Boyle,  close  by  the  school  house  built  by  Mr.  Howe  in  the  old 
orchard,  and  it  is  hard  for  me  to  realize  that  she  is  now  a 
widow  and  a  grandmother.  I  feel  sure,  however,  that  Mr. 
Howe  left  behind  him  hundreds  and  thousands  that  revere 
his  memory,  and  will  perpetuate  it  by  deeds  and  virtues  which 
his  example  and  precepts  suggested. 

Truly,  your  friend, 

W.  T.  SHERMAN. 

I  have  thus  dwelt  upon  the  youth  and  parentage  of  Gen 
eral  Sherman,  because  in  addition  to  the  interest  which  nat 
urally  attached  to  that  part  of  this  great  man's  life,  but  littL- 
attention  has  been  hitherto  given  to  it,  even  in  his  own  incom 
parable  Memoirs. 

My  first  knowledge  of  General  Sherman  was  when  T  was 
in  command  of  the  Central  Division  of  the  Mississippi,  with 
headquarters  at  Trenton,  Tenn.  Later  my  spies  brought  me 
information  that  I  thought  of  importance  to  the  command  at 
Memphis,  and  General  Sherman  acknowledged  the  information 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  135 

with  a  letter,  thanking  me  and  proposing  that  whatever 
information  of  the  enemy  either  of  us  obtained  that  related  to 
our  commands,  we  should  note  it  and  communicate  it.  The 
letter  was  such  a  remarkable  and  friendly  one  that  it  greatly 
impressed  me. 

The  first  time  I  came  into  personal  contact  with  General 
Sherman  was  in  September,  1863.  I  was  lying  very  ill  at 
Corinth;  and  was  Commander  of  that  District.  General  Grant 
had  ordered  Sherman  west  from  Memphis,  to  rebuild  the  road 
through  to  Decatur,  with  a  view  of  aiding  Rosecrans  in  his 
campaign  against  Bragg,  or  at  any  rate  to  make  a  demon 
stration  upon  Bragg 's  communications.  General  Sherman 
brought  with  him  an  open  letter  from  General  Grant  to  me. 
He  came  in  and  sat  down  by  my  bedside  and  read  the  letter, 
which  was  very  complimentary  to  me  and  my  command.  The 
substance  of  the  letter  was  that  when  General  Sherman  reached 
my  command  I  was  to  take  from  it  whatever  troops  could  be 
spared,  and  accompany  him  in  his  movement  to  the  East. 

After  Sherman  read  the  letter  from  Grant,  he  said :  ' '  Now 
are  you  well  enough  to  do  what  General  Grant  suggested?" 
I  said  "Yes."  He  said,  "All  right,  I  will  give  you  plenty 
of  time,  and  you  can  bring  up  the  rear,  and  I  will  issue  the 
orders." 

Sherman  was  then  Commander  of  the  Fifteenth  Army 
Corps,  that  was  crossing  the  country  from  Memphis  to  De 
catur.  Soon  after  his  visit  to  me,  I  sent  him  the  substance  of 
reports  of  my  spies  and  scouts  working  in  my  front  and  inside 
the  enemy's  lines,  and  in  answer,  I  received  the  following  let 
ter  from  him,  which  will  show  you  his  method  of  treating  a 
subordinate  who  w^s  to  command  one  of  his  units: 

Headquarters,  Fifteenth  Army  Corps, 

October  22d,  1863. 
General  G.  M.  Dodge,  Corinth. 

Dear  General : — I  thank  you  for  the  budget  of  news,  which 
is  most  serviceable,  as  we  can  approximate  the  truth.  Of 


136  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

course  here  I  am  halted  by  Bear  Creek,  which  is  a  worse  place 
than  was  represented  to  me. 

I  have  my  three  leading  Divisions  across  Bear  Creek,  and 
all  hands  busy  at  the  bridge  and  trestles.  We  have  lost  eight 
killed  and  about  thirty-five  wounded,  in  all.  Among  the  dead 
is  Colonel  Torrence,  Thirtieth  Iowa.  I  think  it  is  well  estab 
lished  that  Lee,  who  came  from  Jackson,  Clinton  arid  Canton, 
with  about  4,000  good  cavalry,  is  to  my  front  with  Rody's 
Brigade;  and  I  think  also  that  Wheeler's  cavalry  has  been 
driven  out  of  Tennessee,  and  it  is  now  resting  between  here 
and  Decatur. 

If  all  of  this  Cavalry  turns  on  me,  I  will  have  a  nice  time, 
but  can't  help  it.  And  if  Porter  gets  me  up  some  boats  to 
Eastport  I  will  checkmate  them.  The  Tennessee  is  in  very  fair 
boating  order  for  four  feet,  and  I  expect  daily  a  boat  up  from 
Cairo,  also  a  ferry  boat.  I  have  had  the  river  examined  well 
and  am  more  than  satisfied  we  cannot  ford,  even  on  the  shoals. 

Of  course  I  don't  believe  the  report  you  sent  of  the  cap 
ture  of  Banks  and  fifteen  regiments.  Dick  Taylor  was  some 
where  west  of  the  river,  between  Alexander  and  Shreveport. 
That  ground  is  familiar  to  me,  and  I  know  Dick  Taylor  can 
not  get  to  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi  with  anything  like 
an  army.  After  the  capture  of  Vicksburg  we  relaxed  our  ef 
forts  and  subsided.  The  rascals  display  an  energy  worthy  a 
better  cause,  but  as  it  is,  when  they  come  to  the  finish 
they  don't  fight  equal  to  their  numbers.  Chalmer's  dispatch 
is  a  sample.  He  captured  the  camp  of  the  7th  Illinois,  off  on 
Hatch's  expedition,  and  nothing  else  of  moment.  But  he  may 
again  attempt  the  road,  yet  Hurlbut  has  plenty  to  checkmate 
him  if  he  don't  attempt  to  follow,  but  anticipates  and  inter 
poses  the  railroad  and  Tallahatchee. 

I  propose  to  finish  the  bridge  and  move  on  Tuscuin-bia,  but 
in  the  end  may  actually  cross  to  Eastport.  My  orders  are 
fully  comprehended  in  their  drawing  from  Rosecrans  the  cav 
alry  that  has  heretofore  bothered  him. 

I  had  a  regiment  at  Eastport.  A  party  crossed  over  who 
saw  no  one,  but  here  the  river  was  patrolled  so  as  to  report 
all  movements.  I  will  fortify  this  place  somewhat,  so  that  if 
the  enemy's  cavalry  attempt  to  operate  against  it  they  will 
catch  more  than  they  bargain  for.  Corinth  is  too  formidable 
a  place  for  them  to  dream  of  an  attack,  but  you  should  keep 
a  couple  of  regiments  disposable  to  take 'the  offensive. 

I  am  obliged  to  you  for  all  information,  and  will  impart  all 
positive  information  to  you.  Keep  me  well  advised  from  day 
to  day  of  Puller's  approach.  I  have  one  Brigade  at  Burnsville. 
and  three  Divisions  in  front  of  Bear  Creek.  Yours, 

W.  T.  SHERMAN.  Major-General. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 137 

It  was  about  October  24th,  1863,  that  Sherman  was  given 
command  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  and  it  was  the  next 
day  T  received  this  order : 

Headquarters  Dept.,  of  the  Tennessee. 

October  25th,  1863. 
General  Dodge,  Corinth : 

I  wish  you  to  prepare  to  make  up  the  best  possible  Division 
of  troops,  to  be  taken  from  those  now  in  your  own  Division  and 
such  others  as  on  railroad  guard  duty,  not  belonging  to  any  of 
the  organized  Brigades  of  Hurlbut's  Corps.  You  to  command 
it  and  to  accompany  the  movement  up  the  Valley  of  the  Tennes 
see.  Our  object  is  to  secure  absolute  footing  up  the  Valley 
of  the  Tennessee  and  the  river,  giving  us  a  certain  supply  to 
Eastport  now,  and  Florence  very  soon.  We  can  risk  the  rail 
road,  or  use  it  as  long  as  we  can.  Is  your  health  equal  to  it? 
Come  up  and  see  me  on  the  subject.  Yours, 

W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General. 

I  got  on  a  locomotive,  taking  a  doctor  with  me,  and  visited 
Sherman.  On  the  27th  of  October,  while  I  was  in  consultation 
with  him,  Sherman  received  Grant's  dispatch  to  drop  all  rail 
way  repairs  east  of  luka  and  move  as  rapidly  as  possible  to 
Chattanooga.  The  plans  were  then  formed  for  crossing  the 
Tennessee,  and  I  was  able  from  my  knowledge  of  the  country 
to  aid  him  in  putting  his  army  across. 

The  history  of  that  rapid  march  to  Chattanooga  is  well 
known.  I  do  not  propose  to  go  into  it  in  detail.  I  drew  from 
my  commands  troops  for  two  Divisions,  and  Sherman  organ 
ized  them  immediately  into  a  Corps  command.  As  we  marched 
along  he  was  in  the  habit  of  writing  back  personal  letters  to 
each  of  us  who  commanded  a  unit,  and  telling  us  where  he 
thought  we  would  find  the  best  means  of  feeding  our  com 
mands,  because  we  were  living  off  the  country,  only  trans 
porting  sugar,  coffee,  bacon  and  ammunition. 

When  he  got  into  the  Elk  River  country  with  the  Fifteenth 
Army  Corps,  he  wrote  me  back  a  note  saying : 

The  Fifteenth  Army  Corps  has  cleaned  up  everything  as 
they  went  along:  you  had  better  not  follow  them:  T  do  not 


138  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

think  you  will  find  a  chicken  in  their  trail,  and  my  advice  is 
to  push  further  north,  say  towards  Pulaski  or  Columbia,  and 
let  me  know  what  route  you  take. 

I  changed  the  direction  of  my  column  towards  Columbia, 
as  he  had  suggested,  and  reported  my  movements. 

While  on  this  inarch  I  received  the  following  letter : 

Headquarters,  Army  of  the  Tennessee. 

Bridgeport,  Nov.  18th,  1863. 
Dear  General: 

Your  letter,  enclosing  copy  of  your  order  is  received.  .1 
heartily  approve  your  order,  and  think  it  right  to  make  citi 
zens  earn  good  treatment.  They  can  suppress  guerillas — I 
know  it,  and  on  my  threat  at  Florence  they  brought  in  a  man 
captured  by  guerrillas  at  Gravelly  Springs.  Keep  your  in 
fantry  so  that  you  can  concentrate,  and  let  your  cavalry  watch 
tvell  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Elk  on  both  sides.  Don't  let 
the  enemy  draw  any  supplies  from  north  of  the  Tennessee. 

I  have  been  up  to  Chattanooga.  Their  poor  mules  and 
horses  tell  the  tale  of  horrid  roads  and  no  forage.  I  hate  to 
put  ours  up  in  that  mountain  gorge.  The  two  Divisions  have 
gone  forward  and  two  more  follow  tomorrow.  I  go  to  Chat 
tanooga  tomorrow,  and  think  many  days  cannot  elapse  be 
fore  we  bring  on  a  fight.  It  is  intended  to  act  quick,  as  Long- 
street  has  gone  up  to  East  Tennessee. 

General  Grant  says  that  everything  has  been  done  to  push 
the  work  on  the  Nashville  &  Decatur  road,  but  work  on  the 
railroad  moves  slow.  Write  me  fully  and  frequently,  and 
send  me  all  the  statistical  information  that  I  may  stow  it  away 
for  the  future.  Your  sketch  of  your  route  shows  Pulaski  a 
good  place  from  which  to  operate.  T  will  try  and  get  some 
more  cavalry  from  the  North. 

I  was  greatly  disappointed  on  receiving  this  letter,  and  a 
letter  which  he  enclosed  me  from  General  Grant,  telling  me  to 
rebuild  the  railroads  in  Central  Tennessee.  I  answered  Gen- 
ral  Sherman  from  Pulaski  on  the  23d.  The  first  sentence  of 
my  letter  let  him  know  how  disappointed  I  was;  it  was  as  fol 
lows  : 

I  am  in  receipt  of  your  letter  of  Nov.  18th,  written  at 
Bridgeport,  and  if  a  fight  comes  off  at  Chattanooga  and  we 
are  not  in  it,  we  will  be  sadly  disappointed,  but  take  it  for 
granted  it  is  for  the  best. 


__^ PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 139 

After  the  Battle  of  Chattanooga,  I  received  the  following 

message : 

We  are  all  right.  We  defeated  Bragg  on  Missionary  Ridge 
and  our  troops  are  pursuing.  I  start  at  once  for  the  head  of 
my  column.  Keep  your  troops  well  in  hand,  and  I  hope  soon 
to  come  to  you,  and  we  will  then  make  it  all  right  south  and 
west  of  Decatur. 

After  the  Chattanooga  campaign  Sherman  marched  to 
Knoxville.  As  soon  as  Longstreet  knew  he  was  en  route,  he 
left.  He  suggested  to  Burnsides  that  they  should  go  after 
Longstreet  and  drive  him  out  of  Tennessee;  but  Burnsides  an 
swered  that  he  could  take  care  of  Longstreet,  and  Sherman 
brought  back  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  and  scattered  it 
from  Columbia  along  the  line  of  the  Nashville  &  Decatur 
road,  and  from  Athens  to  Bridgeport  along  the  line  of  the 
Memphis  &  Charleston  road,  with  directions  to  fit  up  our 
command  ready  for  a  spring  campaign;  remount  our  cavalry, 
replenish  our  teams;  in  fact  gave  us  carte  blanche  to  do 
everything  necessary  to  put  our  commands  in  good  condition 
for  the  campaign  Grant  had  in  view. 

On  December  23d,  1863,  General  Grant  called  the  Corps 
and  Army  Commanders  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  to  Nash 
ville  to  inform  them  of  his  plans  for  a  winter  campaign,  and 
there  met  Generals  Sherman,  Rawlins  and  Dodge  of  the  Army 
of  the  Tennessee,  and  General  Granger  of  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  commanding  the  District  of  Nashville.  On  our 
arrival  General  Grant  took  us  to  call  upon  Andrew  Johnson, 
the  Military  Governor  of  Tennessee.  We  found  him  in  a  fine 
new  residence.  General  Grant  excused  our  appearance  by 
saying  we  had  not  had  time  to  change  our  clothes,  and  after  a 
short  conversation,  Governor  Johnson  opened  up  with  a  great 
tirade  against  the  rebels  and  how  he  would  treat  them.  He 
brought  his  fist  down  on  the  piano  with  such  force  that  one 
could  have  heard  it  sound  all  over  the  house,  and  declared : 
"No  rebel  need  hope  for  mercy  from  me."  We  left,  all  of 


140 PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

us  rather  disgusted,  as  his  tirade  was  uncalled  for,  and  while 
I  was  in  command  of  Middle  Tennessee  I  hardly  ever  put  my 
hand  on  a  rebel,  taking  his  stock  or  forage,  but  Johnson  tried 
to  stop  it  and  protect  him. 

After  our  return  to  headquarters,  Sherman's  first  sugges 
tion  was  that  we  should  go  to  the  theater.  We  were  all  dressed 
in  our  rough,  campaigning  clothes,  in  fact  we  had  nothing  else 
with  us,  as  we  had  not  been  able  to  get  any  supplies  since  we 
left  the  Mississippi  River.  That  night  we  went  to  the  theater, 
paid  our  way  in,  and  obtained  seats  in  the  front  row  in  the 
balcony.  The  play  of  ''Hamlet"  was  upon  the  boards.  Yon 
all  know  what  a  fine  Shakespearean  critic  Sherman  was.  The 
play  was  simply  being  butchered — to  the  great  amusement  of 
a  theater  full  of  soldiers,  who  were  either  coming  from  leave 
of  absence  or  going  upon  one.  No  one  in  the  audience  seemed 
to  recognize  us,  and  we  sat  there  quite  a  while.  Sherman,  who 
was  sitting  next  to  me,  talked  so  loudly  about  the  play  that 
everybody  could  hear  him.  He  said:  "Dodge,  that  is  no  way 
to  play  Hamlet!"  and  he  went  on  so  excitedly  that  I  said  to 
him  two  or  three  times,  "General,  don't  talk  so  loud,  some  of 
the  boys  will  discover  us,  and  there  will  be  a  scene."  But 
he  was  so  indignant  at  the  butchery  of  the  play  that  he  could 
not  keep  still.  During  the  grave-digger's  scene,  where  Ham 
let  picks  up  the  skull  of  Yorick  and  soliloquizes  upon  it.  a 
soldier  in  the  back  part  of  the  audience  rose  up  and  halloed 
out  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  "Say  pard,  what  is  it,  Yank  or 
Reb?"  Of  course  the  whole  house  came  down,  and  Grant 
said,  "We  had  better  get  out  of  here."  We  left,  and  no  one 
knew  that  the  two  great  soldiers  of  the  age  had  been  listen 
ing. 

General  Sherman  suggested  we  should  have  an  oyster  sup 
per,  and  put  General  Rawlins  forward  to  find  a  place.  Raw- 
lins  took  us  to  a  very  nice  restaurant.  As  we  entered,  he  saw 
there  was  only  a  small  table  vacant,  but  at  a  large  table  that 


PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  141 

would  seat  our  party  was  only  one  man ;  and  Rawlins,  without 
saying  who  we  were,  asked  him  if  he  would  move  to  the  small 
table.  The  man  looked  at  him  with  astonishment,  and  said 
-cThe  table  was  good  enough  for  him,"  and  Rawlins,  disgust 
ed,  turned  and  went  out,  and  we  followed.  General  Sherman 
said  if  we  depended  on  Rawlins,  we  would  get  no  oysters,  and 
hailed  a  policeman,  who  pointed  out  an  oyster  saloon  in  a  base 
ment,  kept  by  a  widow.  We  went  in,  seated  ourselves,  and 
Sherman  ordered  the  oysters.  It  was  the  first  time  we  had 
been  together  so  we  could  talk,  and  we  naturally  entered  into 
conversation,  and  time  passed.  When  we  were  about  half 
through  with  our  meal,  the  widow  proprietress  came  in  and 
told  us  we  must  go,  as  the  order  was  to  close  at  12  o  'clock,  and 
we,  of  course,  complied,  leaving  our  meal  half  completed.  We 
returned  to  General  Grant's  headquarters  and  settled  down 
for  the  night,  telling  the  Staff  our  evening's  experience.  They 
gave  it  to  the  Press,  and  before  we  were  up  the  next  morning 
the  theater  manager,  the  restaurant  proprietor,  the  widow, 
the  chief  of  police,  and  others  were  at  headquarters  to  make 
their  apologies  to  General  Grant  for  their  lack  of  courtesy, 
pleading  that  they  did  not  know  who  we  were.  They  all 
seemed  to  think  that  they  committed  some  act  that  would 
bring  action,  closing  their  houses,  or  some  other  punishment. 
But  General  Grant  enjoyed  the  joke  and  told  them  we  had  no 
complaint  to  make — in  fact  had  passed  an  interesting  and 
jolly  evening. 

At  a  dinner  given  us  by  General  Granger,  the  General's 
mother,  or  mother-in-law,  who  had  known  Sherman  when  in 
the  army,  upbraided  Sherman  for  the  pillaging  and  " stealing" 
done  by  Sherman's  soldiers  on  their  march  to  Knoxville.  She 
pecked  and  pounded  away  until  finally  the  General  turned 
upon  her.  He  said  : 

Madam,  my  soldiers  have  to  subsist  even  if  the  whole  coun 
try  must  be  ruined  to  maintain  them.  There  are  two  armies 
here :  one  is  in  rebellion  against  the  Union,  the  other  is  fight- 


142 PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  or  SHERMAN. 

ing  for  the  Union — if  either  must  starve  to  death,  I  propose  it 
shall  not  be  the  army  that  is  loyal.  There  is  nothing  too  good 
for  the  soldiers  who  wear  the  blue. 

After  a  pause  he  added: 

War  is  cruelty.  There  is  no  use  in  trying  to  reform  it ;  the 
crueler  it  is,  the  sooner  it  will  be  over. 

This  response  put  a  cold  douche  on  the  dinner  and  no 
effort  of  any  of  us  could  relieve  the  strain.  The  lady  said  no 
more,  for  it  was  a  great  rebuke. 

General  Grant's  plan  for  the  winter  campaign  was  that 
he  would  take  about  30,000  men  from  the  Chattanooga  Army 
and  go  down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers  to  New  Orleans, 
and  with  General  Canby's  Command  move  upon  Mobile.  Gen 
eral  Sherman  was  to  go  to  Vicksburg  and  take  the  Seventeenth 
Corps  and  other  troops  along  the  Mississippi,  and  move  from 
Vicksburg  to  Meridian  and  join  General  Grant  in  the  rear  of 
Mobile.  I  was  to  take  my  two  Divisions  of  the  Sixteenth  Army 
Corps,  with  several  thousand  Cavalry  that  had  been  organ 
ized  by  General  William  Suey  Smith  in  Nashville,  and  move 
south  from  Decatur  as  far  as  the  Tombigbee  River,  destroy 
ing  the  railroads  and  everything  that  could  be  used  by  the 
enemy,  and  sweep  around  into  Mississippi  and  defeat  any 
enemy  that  might  be  in  that  country,  especially  Forrest,  if 
there,  and  move  back  by  way  of  West  Tennessee  to  Middle 
Tennessee,  virtually  making  it  impossible  for  any  army  to  oc 
cupy  that  country. 

We  returned  to  our  commands  to  prepare  for  this  cam 
paign,  but  when  General  Grant  informed  the  authorities  in 
Washington  of  his  plans,  President  Lincoln  objected  very  much 
to  his  taking  any  forces  from  Chattanooga,  fearing  that  Long- 
street,  who  was  laying  in  East  Tennessee,  might  try  to  re-occu 
py  that  country.  This  caused  General  Grant  to  go  to  East 
Tennessee  with  a  view  of  attacking  Longstreet  and  driving 
him  out  before  he  made  the  southern  campaign. 


PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  143 

But  when  he  reached  Knoxville,  he  found  General  Foster, 
who  was  in  command,  so  very  much  opposed  to  the  movement 
on  account  of  his  lack  of  troops,  and  as  he  claimed  that  he 
could  hold  Longstreet  in  East  Tennessee,  which  would  be  just 
as  effective  as  driving  him  out,  and  the  time  getting  short, 
Gfrant  finally  acquiesced  in  Foster's  viewrs,  and  returned,  so 
that  the  general  plan  was  abandoned,  and  only  General  Sher 
man  carried  out  his  part  of  it,  moving  out  as  far  west  of  Vicks- 
burg  as  Meridian,  meeting  no  enemy,  and  returning. 

General  Grant  always  regretted  that  he  did  not  carry  out 
his  original  purpose  of  moving  upon  Longstreet  and  driving 
him  out  of  East  Tennessee. 

On  March  4th,  1864,  General  Grant  received  his  appoint 
ment  as  Lieutenant-General  to  command  all  the  United  States 
armies,  and  repaired  to  Washington  to  receive  his  commission. 
On  his  return  from  Washington  we  were  all  called  to  Nash 
ville  to  meet  him,  and  General  Grant  outlined  his  plans  for 
our  coming  campaign.  Grant  was  desirous  of  taking  some  of 
the  officers,  who  had  served  with  him  in  the  West,  to  the  east 
ern  army.  Sherman  protested,  desiring  to  have  his  army  left 
intact,  but  Sheridan  finally  was  selected  and  taken,  against  his 
protest,  all  the  rest  being  left.  Sherman  went  with  Grant  as 
far  east  as  Cincinnati.  During  the  reunion  of  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee  at  Cincinnati,  in  1889,  at  the  banquet  in  the  Burnett 
House,  Sherman  pointed  out  to  me  the  room  where  Grant  and 
he  sat  down  with  their  maps  and  came  to  their  agreement  as 
to  the  general  movement  that  was  to  be  made  in  Grant's  cam 
paign  in  May,  1864,  which  was  to  close  the  war.  The  agree 
ment,  as  Sherman  stated  it  to  me,  was  for  each  to  take  care  of 
the  enemy  in  his  part  of  the  country,  and  Grant  was  to  move 
all  of  the  armies  at  once.  Both  agreed  that  they  would  each 
hold  the  enemy  in  their  front ;  that  although  the  rebels  had  the 
interior  lines  it  would  be  the  duty  of  each  to  prevent  the  move 
ment  of  any  of  the  enemy's  forces  from  the  front  of  one  to  the 


144  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

other;   and   we   all   know   how   well   they   accomplished   their 
purpose. 

Grant  said  to  Sherman : 

If  Lee  sends  any  of  his  troops  to  your  front,  I  will  send  you 
twice  as  many  men  as  he  sends  Johnston. 

And  during  the  campaign  Sherman  often  said : 

We  must  press  Johnston  so  that  under  no  circumstances 
can  they  detach  a  Corps  or  any  part  of  their  command  to  re 
inforce  Lee. 

After  the  Battle  of  Chattanooga  the  Government  had  been 
issuing  and  selling  rations  to  the  citizens  of  Tennessee.  When 
General  Sherman  prepared  for  his  Atlanta  campaign  he  knew 
that  its  success  depended  upon  his  ability  to  feed  his  men 
and  animals,  and  he  therefore  issued  Order  No.  8,  stopping 
this  issue  to  citizens.  In  a  few  days  he  received  this  dispatch 
from  President  Lincoln,  dated  May  4,  1864: 

I  have  an  imploring  appeal  from  the  citizens,  who  say  your 
order,  No.  8,  wrill  compel  them  to  go  north  to  Nashville.  This 
is  in  no  sense  an  order,  nor  is  it  even  a  request  that  you  will 
do  anything  which  in  the  least  shall  be  a  drawback  upon  your 
military  operations,  but  anything  you  can  do  consistently 
with  the  appeals  of  these  suffering  people  I  should  be  glad  of. 

On  May  5th,  General  Sherman  sent  an  answer  characteris 
tic  of  the  man  and  General : 

A.  Lincoln,  President : 

We  have  worked  hard  with  the  best  talent  of  the  country, 
and  it  is  demonstrated  that  the  railroad  cannot  supply  the 
army  and  the  people,  too — one  of  them  must  quit — and  the 
army  does  not  intend  to  unless  Joe  Johnston  makes  us.  The 
issues  to  citizens  have  been  enormous,  and  the  same  weight  of 
corn  and  oats  would  have  saved  thousands  of  mules  whose  car 
casses  now  corduroy  the  roads,  and  which  we  need  so  much  in 
war.  I  will  not  change  my  order,  and  I  beg  of  you  to  be  sat 
isfied  that  the  clamor  is  partly  humbug  and  for  effect.  I  ad 
vise  you  to  tell  the  bearers  of  appeals  to  hurry  to  Kentucky 
and  make  up  a  column  of  cattle  and  wagons  and  go  over  the 


PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  145 

mountains  on  foot  by  Cumberland  Gap  and  Somerset  to  relieve 
their  suffering  friends,  as  they  used  to  before  the  railroad  was 
built.  Tell  them  they  have  no  time  to  lose.  We  can  relieve 
all  actual  suffering  by  each  company  and  regiment  giving 
their  savings.  Every  man  who  is  willing  to  fight  and  work 
gets  full  rations,  and  all  who  will  not  fight  and  work  we  offer 
them  free  passage  in  the  cars. 

In  April,  1864,  the  first  intimations  were  sent,  confiden 
tially  to  the  Corps  Commanders,  for  the  concentration  of  our 
forces  and  the  movement  of  our  troops.  During  my  command 
in  Middle  Tennessee  I  had  raised  several  regiments  of  colored 
troops,  with  General  Sherman's  approval,  although  he  was 
criticised  very  severely  for  taking  no  colored  troops  with 
him.  His  answer  to  me  on  that  criticism  was : 

I  propose  to  leave  the  colored  troops  to  occupy  our  lines 
of  communication,  where  they  can  have  the  protection  of  en 
trenchments,  and  a  chance  to  drill;  and  I  do  not  propose  in 
this  campaign  that  the  rebels  shall  say  that  for  me  to  whip 
them  it  was  necessary  to  take  part  of  their  niggers  to  do  it. 

So,  in  April,  when  he  sent  his  orders,  I  wrote  him  that  I 
proposed  to  take  every  white  soldier  on  my  line  with  me,  and 
he,  without  answering  my  letter,  sent  me  an  order  to  go  for 
ward  with  my  forces,  but  to  leave  one  white  Brigade  (naming 
its  commander)  at  Decatur;  and  in  pursuance  to  these  com 
mands  I  commenced  marching  towards  Chattanooga.  When 
T  was  about  half  way  there,  T  received  a  note  from  General 
McPherson  telling  me  to  put  my  forces  upon  the  cars  and  with 
my  ammunition  reach  Chattanooga  before  the  5th  of  May, 
leaving  my  trains  and  artillery  to  follow  by  wagon  road.  We 
arrived  there  on  the  morning  of  the  5th  without  tents  or  ra 
tions,  and  I  immediately  found  our  army  commander,  Gen 
eral  McPherson,  who  was  waiting  for  us.  I  remember  that  at 
the  breakfast  table  at  the  hotel  I  was  greatly  surprised  to  find 
the  knives  and  forks  chained  to  the  table,  and  concluded  that 
the  reputation  of  Sherman's  "bummers"  had  preceded  us. 


146  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

Sherman  had  evidently  held  consultation  with  the  army 
commanders  before  I  arrived,  because  he  said  to  McPherson : 
"I  think  I  had  better  read  Dodge  these  dispatches."  And  then 
he  sat  down  and  read  those  celebrated  dispatches  that  passed 
between  Grant  and  himself  from  May  1st  to  May  5th,  which 
have  all  been  published.  When  he  had  finished  he  said,  "'Now 
Dodge,  you  see  what  you  have  to  do.  Where  are  your 
troops?"  I  said,  "They  are  unloading."  He  said  to  Mc 
Pherson:  "I  think  you  had  better  send  Dodge  to  Ship's  Gap 
tonight."  McPherson  said:  "Why  General,  that  is  thirty 
miles  away."  Sherman  said,  "No  matter,  let  him  try  it."  I 
asked  for  a  guide,  and  McPherson  said  if  they  could  find  one 
they  would  send  him  to  me.  Sherman  gave  me  a  map  with  the 
road  and  gap,  known  as  Ship's  Gap.  in  the  first  r<mge  of  moun 
tains,  marked,  that  I  was  to  capture,  and  that  night  aboul 
midnight  General  Sprague,  commanding  a  Brigade  of  Veatch's 
4th  Division  of  the  Sixteenth  Army  Corps,  reached  the  summit 
of  the  gap,  and  made  the  first  opening  through  that  range  of 
mountains.  This  enabled  us  to  pass  through  Snake  Creek  Gap 
before  the  enemy  discovered  the  movement  to  their  rear.  To 
my  own  surprise  and  to  the  surprise  of  everybody  else,  wo 
pushed  through  that  long  narrow  gorge  before  midnight  of  tho 
8th,  one  day  ahead  of  the  time  fixed,  where  one  regiment  ol 
cavalry  properly  posted  could  have  held  us  and  forced  a  bat 
tie.  Johnston's  troops  did  not  attack  us  until  tho  morning  of 
the  9th,  so  that  the  first  plans  of  Sherman,  as  he  has  said  to 
me,  were  so  successful  and  so  satisfactory  that  he  thought  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee  should  have  planted  itself  across  the 
railroad  near  Resaca  in  the  rear  of  Johnston,  which  would 
have  forced  him  to  abandon  his  trains  and  "fight  us,  or  make  a 
long  detour  to  the  east.  That  question  had  been  fought  over 
in  the  papers,  and  by  the  different  officers,  but  Sherman,  up 
to  the  time  of  his  death,  always  felt  and  claimed  that  if  the 
fifteen  thousand  men  we  had  with  us  had  been  planted  and 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  1-iT 

entrenched  squarely  in  front  of  Resaca,  it  would  have  broken 
np  Johnston's  army. 

I  was  too  young  an  officer  then  to  discuss  these  matters, 
but  simply  obeyed  my  orders,  and  I  do  not  propose  at  this 
time  to  criticise  the  actions  of  General  McPherson,  or  to  pass 
judgment  upon  the  opinion  of  Sherman,  because  it  can  do  no 
good.  There  is  no  question  that  there  never  was  a  braver  or 
more  loved  and  trusted  General  in  our  Army  than  McPher 
son,  and  if  he  made  a  mistake,  there  is  no  person  in  or  out  of 
the  army  that  does  not  know  that  he  made  it  in  the  interest 
of  what  he  considered  to  be  his  duty,  and  I  claim  that  no  one 
can  now  criticise  him  for  it,  for  Sherman,  after  it  was  all  over, 
never  did.  Our  rapid  movement  surprised  Johnston,  and  ac 
complished  the  principal  object  of  the  movement  to  his  reary 
forcing  him  out  of  his  impregnable  position  at  Dalton,  and 
driving  him  south  of  the  Ostanaula  River. 

During  the  march  from  Chattanooga  to  Atlanta  we  were 
very  short  of  all  kinds  of  provisions,  canned  fruits,  vegetables,, 
etc.  We  lived  off  bread,  beans  and  bacon.  T  had  been  suf 
fering  during  the  whole  of  the  campaign,  was  run  down  a 
good  deal  physically,  and  thought  if  I  could  get  a  change  of 
food  it  would  help  keep  me  up.  I  went  over  to  General  Sher 
man's  headquarters  and  asked  him  to  allow  me  to  send  by 
Lieutenant  Bailey  (who  had  been  detailed  from  my  command 
in  charge  of  the  mails  running  from  Nashville  to  the  front), 
to  bring  me  down  some  dried  fruits  and  vegetables.  I  told 
Sherman  that  T  was  running  down  :  that  1  had  a  very  had  wound 
in  the  side,  and  it  seemed  impossible  to  keep  it  from  sapping 
away  my  strength.  Sherman  looked  at  me  and  said :  "Dodge, 
all  you  want  is  some  good  whiskey,"  and  took  me  to  his  tent. 
Good  or  bad  whiskey  just  then  was  entirely  different  to  me 
from  what  it  is  now,  but,  of  course,  I  submitted.  T  urged  my 
necessity  upon  the  General,  but  he  said  it  was  impossible  to 
allow  me  to  bring  forward  anything:  that  if  he  did  it  for  one 


PERSONAL       COLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 


he  would  have  to  do  it  for  others;  and  I  went  away  greatly 
disappointed,  which  Sherman  saw.  There  was  no  way  to  get 
anything  without  his  permission,  ft  was  not  more  than  a  day 
or  so  after  that  that  Colonel  Dayton,  his  adjutant,  happened 
to  be  at  my  headquarters,  and  asked  one  of  the  staff  officers 
if  T  had  sent  to  Nashville  for  anything.  The  staff  officer  in 
formed  him  that  I  had  applied  and  could  not  get  permission, 
and  that  under  the  circumstances  T  would  not  send.  Dayton 
told  the  staff  officer  if  they  could  get  it.  through  by  Bailey  to 
do  so,  that  General  Sherman,  he  knew,  would  not  object,  but. 
says  he.  ''You  don't  want  to  say  anything  to  Dodge."  and  the 
first  thing  I  knewr  there  came  to  my  headquarters  a  box  of 
supplies.  It  was  a  long  time  afterwards  before  1  knew  how 
they  had  been  brought  there.  It  is  the  only  case  in  my  ex 
perience  where  Sherman  relaxed  one  of  his  orders. 

The  history  of  the  Atlanta  campaign  has  been  written  ; 
nothing  I  can  say  about  it  can  add  to  or  take  from  it.  It.  is 
the  unwritten  instances  that  I  propose  to  talk  about.  I  had  a 
Corps  command  all  the  way  from  Corinth,  Miss.,  to  Marietta, 
Ga.,  with  only  the  rank  of  a  Brigadier-General.  Probably 
there  was  never  a  greater  effort  made  by  Grant  and  Sherman 
to  give  me  a  rank  suitable  to  my  command,  and  avoid  un 
pleasant  complications,  than  as  we  marched  down  to  Kenesaw. 
I  was  in  command  of  that  portion  in  the  field  of  the  Sixteenth 
Army  Corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  with  officers  of 
much  higher  rank  holding  lesser  commands.  This  brought 
upon  me  many  remarks  that  my  staff  would  hear  and  repeat 
to  me,  and  was  annoying  and  made  me  uncomfortable.  I  sat 
down  and  wrote  to  General  Sherman,  explaining  to  him  fully. 
that  these  criticisms  had  come  to  me,  and  that  they  made  me 
feel  very  uncomfortable,  that  my  staff  were  always  talking 
about  it;  rumor  stating  that  this  and  that  officer  was  going  to 
relieve  me,  and  T  said  to  Sherman  that  T  thought  he  had  bet- 


PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 


ter  give  me  a  command  better  fitted  to  my  rank,  and  relieve  me 
and  him.    He  put  this  endorsement  upon  the  paper: 

Suppose  you  wait  until  someone  that  has  a  right  to  com 
plain  does  so;  and  go  ahead  and  do  your  duty,  arid  not  trouble 
vourself  about  other's  business. 

W.   T.   SHERMAN 

He  did  not  even  sign  it  officially.  He  never  referred  to  it 
during  the  war,  but  afterwards  poked  a  good  deal  of  fun  at 
me  for  my  foolish  action.  He  soon  after  sent  me  a  telegraphic 
dispatch  that  came  from  the  President,  telling  him  that  he  had 
relieved  him  from  his  difficulties  about  Dodge.  My  commis 
sion  reached  me,  and  I  donned  my  two  stars. 

Sherman  always  sustained  his  officers  who  assumed  great 
authority  in  an  emergency,  although  they  might  tie  wrong.  As 
an  instance  I  give  you  the  following  : 

Before  General  Sherman  crossed  the  Chattahoochee  for  his 
attack  upon  Atlanta,  his  army  was  stretched  from  Soap  Creek 
to  Sandtown  Ferry,  facing  the  river.  My  Corps,  the  16th,  was 
upon  the  extreme  right,  and  I  thought  the  crossing  was  to  be 
by  the  right  flank,  as  it  was  so  much  nearer  to  Atlanta,  and 
my  orders  were  to  seize  all  ferry  boats  and  other  means  of 
crossing.  General  Sherman  came  to  my  headquarters,  took 
out  his  map,  and  asked  how  long  it  would  take  me  to  con 
struct  a  bridge  across  the  river  at  Roswell,  some  thirty  miles 
away  beyond  our  extreme  left,  telling  me  it  was  rock  bot 
tom  and  could  be  forded,  and  that  there  was  a  road  bridge  at 
that  point  which  the  Confederates  had  destroyed.  I  sup 
posed  I  would  have  to  go  into  the  woods  and  cut  timber,  and 
told  him  it  would  require  at  least  a  week.  He  had  not  been 
gone  more  than  an  hour  when  T  received  orders  from  General 
McPherson  to  move  to  Roswell,  and  that  General  Sherman 
would  communicate  directly  with  me.  The  march  was  a  hot, 
dusty  one,  in  the  rear  of  the  army,  but  I  did  not  halt,  except 
for  our  meals,  and  an  occasional  hour's  rest.  I  received  at 


150  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

Marietta  a  dispatch  from  Sherman  urging  me  to  get  there 
as  soon  as  possible. 

On  arriving,  I  immediately  put  a  Brigade  across  the  river, 
and  it  was  as  fine  a  sight  as  I  ever  saw  when  Fuller's  Ohio 
Brigade,  in  line  of  battle,  forded  the  river.  The  enemy's  cav 
alry  held  the  other  side.  As  they  moved  across,  holding  their 
guns  and  cartridge  boxes  high  above  their  heads,  the  bands 
of  the  Corps  struck  up  a  lively  tune.  The  rebels  poured  in  a 
heavy  fire,  but  it  was  too  higfh.  Now  and  then  a  boy  would 
step  into  a  hole  am!  disappear  for  a  moment,  but  all  got  across 
and  immediately  sought  shelter  under  the  steep-cut  bank, 
where  Fuller  reformed  and  made  his  charge,  clearing  out  tin- 
enemy  in  short  order,  and  built  a  strong  tete  de  pout. 

Roswell  had  cotton  and  woolen  factories  that  had  been 
running  up  to  the  time  that  General  Garrard's  cavalry  cap 
tured  them,  and  burned  most  of  the  factories.  The  operatives 
were  mostly  women,  and  these  Garrard  moved  to  Marietta  by 
detailing  a  regiment  of  cavalry,  each  member  of  which  took 
one  of  the  operatives  on  his  horse,  and  in  this  way  they  were 
all  taken  into  Marietta,  and  were  sent  north  by  Sherman. 
Over  the  proprietor's  house  was  flying  a  French  flag.  T  saw 
immediately  that  if  I  utilized  the  balance  of  the  buildings  1 
could  erect  the  bridge  in  half  the  time,  and  instructed  Cap 
tain  Armstrong,  who  had  charge  of  the  1,500  men  detailed  to 
build  the  bridge,  to  tear  down  the  buildings  which  were  left 
from  Garrard's  fire,  and  utilize  them.  The  next  morning  some 
of  my  officers,  who  were  better  lawyers  than  1  was,  told  me 
that  the  proprietor  was  making  a  strong  protest,  and  that  1 
was  liable  to  get  into  trouble  on  account  of  violation  of  inter 
national  law.  Although  1  was  using  the  material,  1  though! 
it  best  to  write  General  Sherman  a  letter,  stating  what  I  had 

* 

done,  and  what  the  claims  were,  at  the  same  time  notifying 
him  that  by  using  this  material  1  would  have  the  bridge  com 
pleted  by  Wednesday.  I  arrived  there  by  noon  on  Monday, 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  151 

the  10th  of  July.     Sherman  answered  in  the  following  charac 
teristic  letter: 

Headquarters,  Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi, 
In  the  Field  Near  Chattahoochee  River, 

July  11,  1864. 
General  Dodge,  Roswell,  Ga. : 

I  know  you  have  a  big  job,  but  that  is  nothing  new  for  you. 
Tell  General  Newton  that  his  Corps  is  now  up  near  General 
Schofield's  Crossing,  and  all  is  quiet  thereabout.  He  might 
send  down  and  move  his  camps  to  proximity  of  his  Corps,  but 
I  think  Roswell  and  Shallow  Ford  so  important  that  T  prefer 
him  to  be  near  you  until  you  are  well  fortified.  Tf  he  needs 
rations  tell  him  to  get  his  wagons  up,  and  I  think  you  will  be 
able  to  spare  him  day  after  tomorrow.  T  know  the  bridge  at 
Roswell  is  important,  and  you  may  destroy  all  Georgia  to 
make  it  good  and  strong. 

W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General,  Commanding. 

You  will  perceive  it  is  very  diplomatic;  he  says  nothing  in 
relation  to  international  law,  or  the  French  flag,  but  ends  his 
letter  by  telling  me  that  I  may  destroy  all  Georgia  to  accom 
plish  what  I  am  sent  to  do.  Of  course  I  read  between  the 
lines,  and  paid  no  further  attention  to  the  French  flag.  After 
the  war  great  claims  were  made,  and  we  were  censured  by 
the  Government,  which  I  have  no  doubt  paid  roundly  for  the 
factories. 

On  July  12,  just  three  days  after  I  arrived  there,  I  noti 
fied  General  Sherman  that  the  bridge  was  completed,  and  the 
army  commenced  crossing  on  the  final  movement  to  Atlanta. 
Sherman  was  greatly  surprised,  as  it  had  been  represented  to 
him,  by  officers  he  had  sent  there,  that  it  would'  require  a  much 
longer  time  to  erect  the  bridge. 

My  official  report  read  as  follows : 

A  foot  bridge  710  feet  long  was  thrown  across  the  river, 
and  from  Monday  noon,  July  10,  until  Wednesday  night,  July 
12,  a  good  substantial,  double  track,  trestle  road  bridge,  710 
feet  long  and  14  feet  high,  was  built  by  the  pioneer  Corps  from 
the  command. 


152  PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

As  the  Fifteenth,  Logan's  Corps,  was  crossing  the  bridge, 
there  came  up  a  terrible  thunder  storm,  and  several  of  the  men 
were  knocked  down  while  on  the  bridge,  and  a  bolt  struck  in 
the  midst  of  Murray's  regular  battery  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps, 
which  was  holding  the  bridge  head  across  the  river,  killing 
and  wounding  several  men.  Naturally  the  superstition  of  the 
soldiers  was  aroused  and  all  kinds  of  misfortunes  were  pre 
dicted,  and  sure  enough  in  the  next  engagement,  on  the  22d 
of  July,  at  the  Battle  of  Atlanta,  the  battery  was  captured, 
while  going  from  Blair's  front  to  mine,  by  the  same  skirmish 
line  of  Cleburne's  Division  that  killed  MePherson  on  the  road 
leading  from  my  right  to  Blair's  left.  In  fact,  he  fell  right 
at  the  foot  of  one  of  the  guns  that  had  been  captured. 

The  moment  our  army  crossed  the  bridge  our  movement 
upon  Atlanta  began.  It  was  the  19th  or  20th  of  July  when 
one  of  the  spies,  a  boy  of  the  Second  Iowa  Infantry,  whom  1 
had  sent  into  the  enemy's  lines  long  before,  came  out  to  my 
lines  and  brought  the  morning  paper  and  the  news  of  the 
change  of  commanders  from  General  Johnston  to  General 
Hood.  I  took  him  over  to  the  road  upon  which  Sherman  was 
inarching.  He  was  with  General  Schofield's  column.  Sher 
man  and  Schofield,  and  someone  else  whom  I  cannot  remember, 
discussed  the  news,  and  I  remember  distinctly  Schofield  giv 
ing  his  opinion  of  Hood — that  it  meant  fight.  While  I  stood 
there  listening  and  watching,  General  Sherman  sal  down  upon 
a  stump  and  issued  his  orders,  that  concentrated  his  armies 
and  brought  MePherson  from  Stone  Mountain,  some  twenty 
miles  away,  and  closed  us  all  in  on  Thomas,  showing  he  fully 
comprehended  the  situation.  Soon  after.  Hood,  with  his  army 
attacked  Thomas,  intending  to  double  him  up  from  right  to 
left,  knowing  how  greatly  extended  Sherman's  forces  were. 

After  the  battle  of  the  20th,  we  closed  in  around  Atlanta. 
The  concentration  of  the  lines  threw  the  Sixteenth  Army 
Corps  in  reserve,  and  a  Brigade  of  it  was  sent  to  the  left  of  the 


PERSONAL  KECOLLECTJONS  OF  SHERMAN.  ir>;> 

army  and  encamped  behind  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  and  an 
other  Brigade,  Sprague's,  was  left  at  Decatur  to  protect  the 
trains.  That  night  there  was  a  belief  that  Hood  would  evacu 
ate  Atlanta;  in  the  morning  it  was  reported  that  he  had  done 
so,  in  fact  I  received  from  the  extreme  left  where  one  of  my 
Brigades  lay,  reports  to  that  effect  from  General  Fuller.  Lat 
er  in  the  morning  McPherson  came  to  see  me,  as  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  doing;  if  there  was  any  movement  on  hand  he  would 
come  and  tell  us  what  he  expected,  and  if  not,  he  would  have  a 
kind,  encouraging  word  for  us,  or  a  compliment  for  what  had 
been  done  the  day  before.  He  was  a  man  who  issued  very 
few  orders  on  the  field,  and  in  this  respect  he  was  a  good  deal 
like  Grant,  who  pointed  out  what  was  to  be  done  and  expected 
you,  as  Commander,  to  do  it  without  entering  into  details,  but 
left  us  at  liberty  to  do  whatever  was  considered  best  in  the 
changes  of  the  fight  or  the  movements  of  the  troops,  expect 
ing  us  to  accomplish  what  he  had  told  us  was  his  objective 
point.  McPherson  was  the  same  way,  and  when  a  movement 
was  on  hand,  or  when  the  army  lay  in  front  of  the  enemy,  Mc 
Pherson  was  in  the  habit  of  coming  round,  sitting  down,  talk 
ing  matters  over,  and  finally  getting  up  to  the  point  without 
giving  an  order,  simply  giving  us  the  benefit  of  his  great  ex 
perience.  I  know  he  came  to  me  in  this  way  frequently,  be 
cause  1  was  a  young  officer  and  likely,  perhaps,  to  go  wrong 
quicker  than  those  who  were  veterans  in  the  service. 

McPherson,  that  morning,  came  to  my  headquarters  and  or 
dered  me  to  move  out  to  the  left  of  Blair's  Seventeenth  Army 
Corps,  and  when  they  moved  to  their  new  position,  that  he  was 
that  day  intrenching,  I  was  to  join  him  and  stretch  as  far  to  the 
left  as  possible,  and  if  I  saw  a  chance,  was  to  grab  and  hold  the 
Macon  road.  It  seemed  Sherman  had  intended  to  use  my  Corps 
for  a  different  purpose,  and  had  ordered  McPherson  to  assign 
the  Sixteenth  Corps  to  the  breaking  up  of  the  railroads  east, 
towards,  and  beyond  Decatur,  but  this  order  I  did  not  know 


164:  PEKSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

anything  about,  nor  did  it  reach  me.  McPherson  received  the 
orders  after  giving  me  my  orders,  and  did  not  send  them  to 
me,  and  it  was  while  pursuing  McPherson 's  orders  to  move  to 
the  left  that,  at  12  o'clock  on  the  22d,  nearly  all  of  Hood's  army 
got  to  our  rear  and  made  that  terrible  attack  upon  us,  and, 
after  fighting  from  noon  until  midnight  was  defeated  at  all 
points. 

There  is  probably  nothing  in  all  Sherman 's  military 
career  that  he  criticised  more  severely,  to  himself  and  to  his 
confidential  friends,  than  the  fact  that  when  this  great  battle 
was  going  on  at  the  left,  where  thousands  of  men  were  being 
mowed  down,  where  the  roar  of  musketry  lasted  from  12:00 
noon  until  midnight,  he  did  not  force  the  Army  of  the  Cum 
berland  and  Ohio,  over  50,000  strong,  which  stood  intact  that 
day,  not  firing  a  gun,  into  Atlanta  and  take  it,  for  there  was 
nothing  in  Atlanta  except  Georgia  militia  and  teamsters. 
Sherman's  statement  is  that  he  requested  General  Thomas  to 
attack  Atlanta,  and  if  possible  go  into  it.  He  told  him  a  great 
battle  was  going  on  to  the  left,  because  it  is  well  known  to 
everyone  in  an  army  that  one  wing,  when  the  wind  is  in  the 
opposite  direction,  may  fight  a  great  battle,  while  the  other 
wing,  miles  away,  could  only  know  of  it  by  rumor.  Thomas 
felt  the  enemy,  and  seeing  the  works  held  by  the  militia,  an 
swered  that  Hood's  army  was  in  Atlanta,  that  the  works  were 
fully  manned,  and  it  was  not  possible  for  it  to  be  successfully 
attacked  in  his  front.  So  all  day  long  that  little  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  that  was  never  known  to  give  back  an  inch,  fought 
and  struggled  and  held  its  own  against  double  numbers, 
thinking  and  believing  that  morning  would  show  Atlanta 
theirs,  for  they  knew  that  the  whole  of  Hood's  army  was  upon 
them. 

At  2  o'clock  in  the  day  McPherson  fell.  I  had  no  knowl 
edge  of  his  death,  although  he  was  killed  near  my  line,  until 
I  received  word  from  General  Fuller,  whom  1  had  instructed 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SIIKKMAN. 155 

to  change  front  to  his  right  and  clean  out  the  enemy  between 
him  and  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  that  he  had  captured  the 
skirmish  line  of  the  enemy  and  taken  from  them  General  Mc- 
Pherson's  field  glasses  and  orders  of  Sherman  to  McPherson. 
The  first  news  I  received  was  that  McPherson  had  been 
wounded,  not  killed,  and  it  was  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
when  Logan  came  to  me  asking  for  help  to  retake  the  line  on 
the  Augusta  road,  where  the  enemy  had  broken  through  and 
captured  DeGresse's  battery;  I  gave  him  Mersey's  Brigade, 
but  even  then  he  did  not  tell  me  he  was  in  command  of  the 
army.  He  came  to  me  as  we  were  in  the  habit  of  doing — 
Logan,  Blair  and  myself — when  one  was  hard  pushed  and 
the  other  was  not,  we  sent  troops  without  orders  where  they 
were  most  needed. 

After  the  day's  fight  was  over,  and  at  10  o'clock  at  night. 
Logan  called  Blair  and  myself  to  meet  him,  Logan  then  being 
in  command  of  the  army ;  we  met  in  the  rear  of  the  Fifteenth. 
Corps,  under  an  oak  tree  on  the  line  of  the  Augusta  railroad, 
and  discussed  the  results  of  the  day.  The  fighting  on  Blair's 
right  and  Logan's  left  at  Bald  Hill  was  still  progressing.  Wo 
only  knew  then  that  we  had  held  the  enemy,  and  did  not 
know  how  much  we  had  punished  them. 

Blair's  men  were  in  the  trenches  in  some  places  on  his 
front,  the  enemy  held  one  side  and  he  the  other.  The  men 
of  the  Fifteenth  Corps  were  still  in  their  own  line,  tired  and 
hungry,  but  those  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps,  after  their  hard 
day's  work,  were  busy  throwing  up  intrenchments  on  the  field 
they  had  held  and  won.  At  Logan's  request  I  sent  Mersey's 
Brigade  to  relieve  Blair's  men  at  the  critical  point  on  Bald 
Hill. 

Logan  and  Blair  thought  that  the  Army  of  the  Cumber 
land  or  the  Army  of  the  Ohio  should  send  a  portion  of  the 
forces  and  relieve  some  of  our  exhausted  men,  and  I  was  sent 
to  see  Sherman.  Mv  recollection  now  is  that  T  met  him  in  a 


15(>  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

tent,  though  it  is  said  officially  that  he  had  his  headquarters  at 
the  Howard  House.  When  I  met  him  he  seemed  surprised  to 
see  me,  but  greeted  me  cordially  and  spoke  of  the  great  loss 
of  McPherson.  I  stated  to  him  my  errand.  He  turned  upon 
me  and  said:  "Dodge,  you  whipped  them  today  didn't  you?" 
I  said,  "Yes  sir."  Then  he  said,  "Can't  you  do  it  again  to 
morrow?",  and  I  said,  "Yes  sir."  I  bade  him  good  night  and 
went  back  to  my  command,  resolving  never  again  to  be  sent 
on  such  an  errand.  Sherman  explained  to  me  afterwards  that 
he  knew  what  orders  he  had  given  to  press  Atlanta,  and  hold 
the  forces  in  the  intrenchments  surrounding  it,  and  he  want 
ed  it  said  that  the  little  Army  of  the  Tennessee  had  fought 
the  great  battle  without  any  help,  and  he  knew  from  the  pun 
ishment  that  the  rebel  army  had  received  that  Hood  would 
not  dare  to  attack  us  in  the  morning. 

There  is  no  doubt  but  that,  when  I  saw  Sherman  that 
night,  he  had  ascertained  the  facts  from  the  reports  of  the 
different  commanders  that  Atlanta  was  without  organized 
force,  and  that  rather  than  reinforce  the  little  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  he  wished  to  impress  the  fact  that  he  was  respon 
sible  for  not  taking  Atlanta,  and  did  not  propose  to  relieve 
himself  of  any  criticism.  He  lias  since  said  to  us,  in  his  own 
quiet  way,  that  he  thought  we  ought  to  have  taken  Atlanta 
that  day,  but  I  have  never  heard  him  make  any  criticisms,  or 
make  any  claim  that  any  officer  was  to  blame  for  not  doing  it. 
except  himself;  while  they  who  watched  and  were  a  part  of 
that  great  battle  seemed  to  think  that  Thomas  with  50,000 
veterans  ought  to  have  poured  into  Atlanta  while  McPher 
son  and  Logan  with  only  20,000  men  met  and  defeated  one  of 
the  best  planned  and  best  executed  attacks  to  the  left,  rear 
and  front  made  in  that  campaign. 

General  Schofield.  who  commanded  the  Army  of  the  Ohio, 
who  was  with  General  Sherman  at  the  time  of  the  attack  of 
Stewart's  Corps  along  the  Augusta  road,  suggested  to  Sher- 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  15? 

man  to  throw  his  Corps  behind  and  on  the  flank  of  Stewart, 
thus  breaking  Stewart's  communication  with  the  intrench- 
ments  of  Atlanta,  but  Sherman  for  some  reason  did  not  ap 
prove  of  it. 

The  loss  of  General  McPherson  was  greatly  lamented  by 
the  entire  army.  He  had  endeared  himself  to  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  and  General  Sherman  spoke  his  sentiments  in 
this  dispatch  : 

I  Ie;i(l<nmrtrrs,   Military    Division  of  the  Mississippi, 
In  the  Field  Near  Atlanta,  Georgia, 

July  23d,  1864. 
General    L.   Thomas,   Adjutant-General    United    States   Army, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

General: — It  is  my  painful  duty  to  report  that  Major-Gen 
eral  James  B.  McPherson,  United  States  Army,  Major-General 
of  Volunteers  and  commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee, 
was  killed  by  a  shot  from  an  ambuscade  about  noon  of  yes 
terday.  At  the  time  of  the  fatal  shot  he  was  on  horseback, 
placing  his  troops  in  position  near  the  city  of  Atlanta,  and 
was  passing  across  a  road  from  a  moving  column  towards  the 
flank  of  troops  that  had  already  been  established  on  the  line. 
He  had  quitted  me  but  a  few  moments  before,  and  was  on  his 
way  to  see  in  person  to  the  execution  of  my  orders.  About 
the  time  of  this  sad  event  the  enemy  had  rallied  from  his  in- 
trenchments  of  Atlanta,  and,  by  a  circuit,  got  to  the  left  and 
rear  of  this  very  line  and  had  begun  an  attack  which  resulted 
in  a  serious  battle,  so  that  General  McPherson  fell  in  battle, 
booted  and  spurred,  as  the  gallant  and  heroic  gentleman 
should  wish.  Not  his  loss,  but  the  country's,  and  the  army 
will  mourn  his  death  and  cherish  his  memory  as  that  of  one 
who,  though  comparatively  young,  had  risen  by  his  merit  and 
ability  to  the  command  of  one  of  the  best  armies  which  the 
Nation  had  called  into  existence  to  vindicate  her  honor  and 
integrity.  History  tells  of  but  few  who  so  blended  the  grace 
and  gentleness  of  the  friend  with  the  dignity,  courage,  faith 
and  manliness  of  the  soldier.  His  public  enemies,  even  the 
men  who  directed  the  fatal  shot,  never  spoke  or  wrote  of  him 
without  expressions  of  marked  respect.  Those  whom  he  com 
manded  loved  him  even  to  idolatry,  and  I,  his  associate  and 
commander,  fail  in  wprds  adequate  to  express  my  opinion  of 
his  great  worth.  I  feel  assureo!  that  every  patriot  in  America 
on  hearing  this  sad  news  will  feel  a  sense  of  personal  loss,  and 


158  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

the  country  generally  will  realize  that  we  have  lost  not  only 
an  able  military  leader,  but  a  man  who,  had  he  survived,  was 
qualified  to  heal  the  national  strife  which  has  been  raised  by 
designing  and  ambitious  men.  His  body  has  been  sent  north 
in  charge  of  Major  Willard,  Captains  Steele  and  Gile,  his  per 
sonal  staff. 

I  am  with  respect, 

W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General,  Commanding. 

Prom  this  dispatch,  it  shows  that  General  Sherman  did 
not  have  proper  knowledge  of  the  attack  of  Hood's  army  in  our 
rear,  in  which  McPherson  was  killed.  My  Corps  had  been 
fighting  desperately  for  nearly  two  hours,  and  McPherson  had 
been  watching  them,  and  when  he  saw  me  defeat  three  des 
perate  charges  of  the  enemy  on  my  lines,  and  hold  them 
against  the  enemy's  attack,  who  had  a  force  three  times  mine, 
General  McPherson  left  me  to  go  to  Blair,  who  was  also  in  a 
desperate  fight  on  his  front  and  left  rear,  and  was  killed. 

Rev.  Thomas  B.  Sherman,  in  speaking  to  the  Society  of  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee,  paid  a  fine  tribute  to  the  fighting  of 
the  Sixteenth  Army  Corps  on  this  day,  and  said  in  part : 

How  fortunate  for  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  that  Dodge  7s 
Corps,  the  Sixteenth,  lies  in  our  rear;  how  more  than  provi 
dential  that  Dodge  is  a  man  rather  than  a  theorist.  Instantly 
he  apprehends  the  deadly  peril.  Swiftly  he  readjusts  his 
Corps,  facing  the  enemy.  Cutting  all  red  tape,  he  is  a  colonel, 
brigadier,  and  division  commander  all  in  one.  While  Hardee's 
Corps  moves  out  of  the  Chaparral  and  up  against  us  in  dread 
array  of  battle  line,  with  good  artillery  support  thundering  be 
fore  them,  without  waiting  to  let  the  enemy  have  the  plan  of 
attack  and  the  momentum  of  surprise,  charge  is  met  by  coun 
ter-charge;  our  cannon  bay  in  answer  to  their  thunder,  our 
banners  bend  forward,  our  lines  advance.  Dodge  is  every 
where,  dashing  up  and  down  his  lines,  lending  his  own  sturdy 
spirit  to  every  soldier  in  his  Corps  and  the  day  is  saved — in 
our  rear,  surprise  and  disaster  are  changed  to  victory !  Again 
and  again  the  brave  Confederates  madly  charge.  Again  and 
again  we  meet  them  breast  to  breast  and  dash  them  back  dis- 
comfitted. 

Sir,  your  presence  here  tonight  may  not  save  you  from  the 
much-deserved  honor  of  this  poor  tribute  to  those  splendid 


PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  159 

qualities,  for  which  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  holds  you  in 
eternal  honor.  In  the  name  of  the  most  gallant  army,  and  in 
the  name  of  my  loved  and  honored  father,  I  thank  you,  sir, 
for  saving  the  fate  of  our  National  army  at  the  famous  Battle 
of  Atlanta. 

After  the  battle  of  the  22d  we  swung  from  the  left  to  the 
right,  and  it  fell  to  my  lot  to  hold  the  lines  while  the  rest  of 
the  army  drew  out.  I  heard  of  the  change  of  the  commander 
of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee — from  General  Logan  to  General 
Howard.  I  did  not  know  the  reasons,  but  felt  that  the  little 
army  that  had  served  under  Grant,  Sherman,  McPherson  and 
Logan,  and  had  fought  a  battle  all  day,  part  of  the  time  by 
itself,  without  a  commander,  and  had  whipped  the  whole  of 
Hood's  army,  had  certainly  left  in  it  material  enough  to  com 
mand  itself.  1  had  never  met  General  Howard,  and  while  I 
knew  him  to  be  an  experienced  and  good  soldier,  it  made  no 
difference  in  iny  feelings;  and  I  think  after  Howard  com 
manded  that  army  and  placed  it  in  battle,  felt  its  pulse  and 
saw  what  it  was,  he  felt  just  as  we  did.  On  the  march 
from  the  left  to  the  extreme  right  I  saw  General  Sher 
man  at  a  log  house.  General  Logan  was  sitting  on  the  porch : 
fie  hardly  recognized  me  as  I  walked  in,  and  I  saw  a  great 
change  in  him.  I  asked  General  Sherman  what  the  change 
in  commanders  meant — why  Logan  was  not  left  in  command. 
As  everyone  knows,  Logan's  independence  and  criticisms  in 
the  army  were  very  severe,  but  they  all  knew  what  lie  was  in 
a  fight,  and  whenever  we  sent  to  Logan  for  aid  he  would  not 
only  send  his  forces,  but  come  himself,  so,  as  Blair  said,  we 
only  knew  Logan  as  we  saw  him  in  battle. 

Logan  could  hear  every  word  that  was  said  between  Sher 
man  and  myself.  Sherman  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  say  any 
thing  in  explanation  of  this  change.  He  simply  put  me  off 
very  firmly  but  nicely  as  he  could,  and  spoke  highly  of  Gen 
eral  Howard,  who  had  been  given  the  command.  I  went  away 
from  the  place  without  any  satisfaction,  and  when  I  met 


160  PERSONAL  BECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

Logan  on  the  outside  I  expressed  to  him  my  regrets,  and  1 
said  to  him:  "There  is  something  here  that  none  of  us  under 
stand."  Logan  said  :  "It  makes  no  difference;  it  will  all  come 
right  in  the  end.'7 

The  first  meeting  I  had  with  General  Howard  was  on  that 
morning,  and  I  wish  to  say  that  while  I  remained  with  him, 
and  ever  since  the  war,  there  has  been  no  one  that  was  kinder 
to  me,  or  who  has  said  kinder  things.  I  am  sorry  it  was  not 
my  fortune  to  have  been  able  to  follow  him  through  to  Wash 
ington. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  when  General  Sherman  came  to  St. 
Louis,  he  explained  to  me  the  reason  he  did  not  give  the  com 
mand  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  to  General  Logan.  He 
said  he  consulted  General  Thomas  and  told  him  that  General 
Logan  was  entitled  to  the  command,  but  Thomas  objected  very 
decidedly,  and  Sherman  said  to  him:  "That  it  placed  him  in  a 
very  difficult  position."  Thomas  said,  "If  he  gave  Logan  the 
command  he  should  feel  like  asking  to  be  relieved."  Sher 
man  said,  "Why,  Thomas,  you  would  not  do  that!"  And 
Thomas  answered,  "No,  I  should  not,  but  I  feel  that  the  army 
commanders  should  be  on  friendly  terms,  and  Logan  and  I 
could  not."  Sherman  answered,  "It  would  be  very  embarrass 
ing  for  me  to  ignore  Logan."  Thomas  then  said,  "Let  the 
President  name  the  commander."  Sherman  replied,  "No,  it  is 
his  duty,  and  I  will  perform  it."  Sherman  said  under  the 
circumstances,  he  felt  it  was  to  the  best  interest  of  his  army, 
on  account  of  General  Thomas'  strong  protest,  to  select  a  com 
mander  outside  of  our  army,  and  he  discussed  with  Thomas 
who  should  be  selected.  General  Hooker  was  the  senior  officer, 
but  both  of  them  said  he  would  not  do ;  and  General  Sherman 
said  he  selected  Howard  as  he  had  pleased  him  very  much  in 
his  action  under  him  at  Chattanooga,  and  in  the  efficiency  he 
showed  in  their  march  to  Knoxville  to  relieve  Burnside.  How 
ard  was  in  command  of  the  Fourteenth  Corps,  and  had  seen 


PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  161 

long  and  important  service  in  the  East.  And  so  Major-Gen 
eral  Howard  was  given  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Ten 
nessee.  This  caused  a  protest  from  General  Hooker,  and  he, 
at  his  own  request,  was  relieved  from  further  service  in  Sher 
man's  army. 

After  the  war,  General  Sherman  and  General  Logan,  both 
being  friends  of  mine,  I  then  endeavored  to  bring  about  a  set 
tlement  of  the  difficulties  between  them.  Knowing  the  real 
reason  why  Sherman  didn't  put  Logan  in  command  of  the 
army,  I  felt  that  he  should  make  such  reason  known  to  Logan, 
and  see  if  it  would  not  make  a  difference  in  their  feelings  in 
the  matter. 

It  was  a  great  disappointment  to  Logan,  of  course,  and  to 
all  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  that  he  didn't  take  command. 
My  correspondence  with  Logan  and  Sherman  did  not  seem  to 
result  in  any  settlement,  though  both  of  them  expressed  high 
opinions  of  each  other. 

It  was  a  great  satisfaction  to  me  that  Sherman  brought  the 
conciliation  about  himself,  and  on  December  28th,  1886,  Gen 
eral  Sherman,  in  a  letter  to  Whitelaw  Read,  editor  of  the  New 
York  Tribune,  set  forth  fully  the  circumstances  of  that  con 
ciliation  as  follows: 

At  a  banquet  in  February,  1883,  in  Washington,  at  which 
General  Logan  and  General  Sherman  were  present,  General 
Logan  paid  this  fine  tribute  to  General  Sherman : 

They  were  ready  in  the  storm  and  in  the  sunlight ;  they 
were  ready  in  the  darkness  or  daylight ;  when  orders  came  they 
marched,  they  moved,  they  fought ;  whether  their  guns  were  of 
the  best  quality  or  not;  whether  their  clothing  was  adapted 
to  their  condition  or  not;  whether  their  food  was  all  they 
would  have  asked  or  not — was  not  the  question  with  these 
men.  The  question  was,  " Where  does  Sherman  want  us  to 
go,  and  when  must  we  move?"  Sir,  these  men  marched  with 
him  through  valleys,  over  hills  and  mountains,  across  rivers, 
and  over  marshes,  and  the  only  question  asked  in  all  these  cam 
paigns  was,  "Where  is  the  enemy?"  There  were  no  ques- 


162  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

tions  of  numbers  or  time.  And  for  General  Sherman,  I  will 
say,  there  was  not  a  soldier  who  bore  the  American  flag,  or  fol 
lowed  it;  not  a  soldier  who  carried  the  musket  or  drew  a 
sabre,  who  did  not  respect  him  as  his  commander.  There  was 
not  one,  sir,  but  would  have  drawn  his  sword  at  any  time  to 
have  preserved  his  life.  There  is  not  one  today,  no  matter 
what  may  be  said,  that  would  dim  in  the  slightest  degree  the 
lustre  of  that  bright  name,  achieved  by  ability,  by  integrity, 
and  by  true  bravery  as  an  officer.  And  in  conclusion,  let  me 
say  this:  While  that  army,  when  it  was  disbanded,  was  ab 
sorbed  in  community  like  raindrops  in  the  sand — all  citizens 
in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye — and  back  to  their  professions,  and 
their  business,  there  is  not  one  of  these  men,  scattered  as  they 
are,  from  ocean  to  ocean,  who  does  not  honor  the  name  of  the 
man  who  led  them  to  triumph  through  the  enemy's  land. 
Wherever  he  may  go,  wherever  he  may  be,  whatever  may  be 
his  condition  in  life,  there  is  not  one  who  would  not  stretch 
out  a  helping  hand  to  that  brave  commander  who  led  them  to 
glory.  Speaking  for  that  army,  if  I  may  be  permitted  to 
speak  for  it,  I  have  to  say,  "May  the  choicest  blessings  that 
God  showers  upon  the  heads  of  men  go  with  him  along  down 
through  his  life."  Tt  is  the  prayer  of  every  soldier  who  served 
under  him. 

General  Sherman  went  immediately  over  to  General  Logan 
and  thanked  him  most  cordially,  and  wrote  him  this  letter: 

Washington,  D.  C.,  Sunday,  Feb.  11,  1883. 
General  John  A.  Logan,  U.  S.  Senate, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Dear  General: 

This  is  a  rainy  Sunday,  a  good  day  to  clear  up  old  scores, 
and  I  hope  you  will  receive  what  I  propose  to  write  in  the 
same  friendly  spirit  in  which  I  offer  it. 

I  was  very  much  touched  by  the  kind  and  most  complimen 
tary  terms  in  which  you  spoke  of  me  personally  at  the  recent 
Corkhill  banquet,  on  the  anniversary  of  my  sixty-third  birth 
day,  and  have  since  learned  that  you  still  feel  a  wish  that  J 
should  somewhat  qualify  the  language  I  used  in  my  Memoirs. 
Volume  2,  pages  85  and  86,  giving  the  reasons  why  General 
0.  O.  Howard  was  recommended  by  me  to  succeed  McPherson 
in  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  when  by  the 
ordinary  rules  of  the  service,  the  choice  should  have  fallen  to 
you.  I  confess  frankly  that  my  ardent  wish  is  to  retire  from 
the  command  of  the  army  with  the  kind  and  respectful  feel 
ings  of  all  men,  especially  of  all  those  who  were  with  me  in 


PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  163 

the  days  of  the  Civil  War,  which  must  give  to  me  and  to  my 
family  a  chief  claim  of  the  gratitude  of  the  people  of  the 
Hinted  States. 

I  confess  that  I  have  tortured  and  twisted  the  words  used 
on  the  pages  referred  to,  so  as  to  contain  my  meaning  better 
without  offending  you,  but  so  far  without  success.  I  honestly 
believe  that  no  man  today  holds  in  higher  honor  than  myself 
the  conduct  and  action  of  John  A.  Logan  from  the  hour  when 
he  realized  that  the  South  meant  war.  Prior  to  the  war  all 
men  had  doubts,  but  the  moment  Fort  Sumpter  was  fired  on 
from  batteries  in  Charleston  these  doubts  disappeared  as  a 
fog,  and  from  that  hour  thenceforth  your  course  was  manly, 
patriotic  and  sublime.  Throughout  the  whole  wrar  I  know  of 
no  single  man's  career  more  complete  than  yours. 

Now  as  to  the  specific  matter  of  this  letter.  I  left  Vicks- 
burg  in  the  fall  of  1863,  by  order  of  General  Grant  in  person, 
with  three  Divisions  of  my  own  Corps  (15th)  and  two  of 
Dodge's  (16th),  to  hasten  to  the  assistance  of  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland  (General  Rosecrans  commanding),  which,  accord 
ing  to  the  then  belief  had  been  worsted  at  Chicamaugua.  Blair 
was  with  me,  you  were  not.  We  marched  through  mud  and 
water  four  hundred  miles  from  Memphis,  and  you  joined  me 
on  the  march  with  an  order  to  succeed  me  in  the  command  of 
the  15th  Corps,  a  Presidential  appointment,  which  Blair  had 
exercised  temporarily.  Blair  was  at  that  time  a  member  of 
Congress,  and  was  afterwards  named  to  command  the  17th 
Corps,  and  actually  remained  so  long  in  Washington  that  we- 
got  to  Big  Shanty  before  he  overtook  us.  Again,  after  the 
Battle  of  Missionary  Ridge  and  Knoxville,  when  Howard' 
served  with  me,  I  went  back  to  Vicksburg  and  Meridian,  leav 
ing  you  in  command  of  the  15th  Corps  along  the  railroad  from 
Stevenson  to  Decatur.  I  was  gone  three  months,  and  when  I 
got  back  you  complained  to  me  bitterly  against  General  G.  EL 
Thomas — that  he  claimed  for  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland 
everything,  and  denied  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  any  use  of 
the  railroads.  I  sustained  you,  and  put  all  Army  and  Corps 
commanders  on  an  equal  footing,  making  their  orders  and  rail 
road  requisitions  of  equal  force  on  the  depot  officers  and  rail 
road  officials  in  Nashville.  Thomas  was  extremely  sensitive 
on  the  point,  and  as  you  well  know  had  much  feeling  against 
you  personally,  which  he  did  not  conceal.  You  also  went  to 
Illinois  more  than  once  to  make  speeches,  and  you  were  also 
absent  after  the  capture  of  Atlanta  and  at  the  time  we  started 
for  Savannah,  and  you  did  not  join  us.  until  we  had  reached 
there. 

Now  I  have  never  questioned  the  right  or  propriety  of  you 
and  Blair  holding  fast  to  your  constituents  by  the  usual 


164 PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN . 

methods ;  it  was  natural  and  right,  but  it  did  trouble  me  to 
have  my  Corps  commander  serving  two  distinct  causes,  one 
military,  and  the  other  civil  or  political,  and  this  did  influence 
me  when  I  was  forced  to  make  choice  of  an  army  commander 
to  succeed  McPherson.  This  is  all  I  record  in  my  Memoirs: 
it  was  so  and  I  cannot  amend  them.  Never  in  speech,  writing 
or  record,  surely  not  in  the  Memoirs,  do  I  recall  applying  to 
you  and  Blair,  for  I  always  speak  of  you  together,  the  term  of 
"political  generals."  If  there  be  such  an  expression  1  cannot 
find  it  now,  nor  can  I  recall  its  use.  The  only  place  wherein 
"politics"  occur  is  in  the  place  I  have  referred  to.  and  whereon 
I  explain  my  own  motive  and  reason  for  nominating1  Howard 
over  you  and  Blair  for  the  vacant  post.  My  reason  may  have 
been  bad,  nevertheless  it  was  the  reason  which  decided  me 
then,  and  as  a  man  of  honor  I  was  bound  to  record  it.  At  this 
time,  1883,  Thomas  being  dead,  I  cannot  say  more  than  is  in 
the  text,  viz :  That  he  took  strong  ground  against  you,  and  I 
was  naturally  strongly  influenced  by  his  outspoken  opinion. 
Still,  I  will  not  throw  off  on  him,  but  state  to  you  frankly  that 
I  then  believed  the  advice  I  gave  Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  best 
practicable.  General  Howard  had  been  with  me  up  to  Knox- 
ville  and  had  displayed  a  zeal  and  ability  which  then  elicited 
my  hearty  approbation,  and  as  I  trusted  in  a  measure  to  skill 
ful  maneuvers  rather  than  to  downright  hard  fighting,  I  rec 
ommended  him.  My  Memoirs  were  designed  to  give  the  im 
pressions  of  the  hour,  and  not  to  pass  judgment  on  the  quali 
ties  of  men  as  exemplified  in  after  life. 

If  you  will  point  out  to  me  a  page  or  line  where  T  can  bet 
ter  portray  your  fighting  qualities,  your  personal  courage,  and 
magnificent  example  in  actual  combat,  I  will  be  most  happy 
to  add  to  or  correct  the  "Memoirs,"  but  when  1  attempt  to 
explain  my  own  motives  or  reasons  you  surely  will  be  the  first 
man  to  see  that  outside  influence  will  fail. 

My  course  is  run,  and  for  better  or  worse  I  cannot  amend 
it,  but  if  ever  in  your  future  you  want  a  witness  to  your  in 
tense  zeal  and  patriotism,  your  heroic  personal  qualities,  you 
may  safely  call  on  me  as  long  as  I  live.  I  surely  have  watched 
with  pride  and  interest  your  career  in  the  United  States  Sen 
ate,  and  will  be  your  advocate  if  you  aim  at  higher  honors.  I 
assert  with  emphasis  that  T  never  styled  you  or  Blair  "politi 
cal  generals,"  and  if  I  used  the  word  "politics"  in  an  offen 
sive  way,  it  was  to  explain  my  own  motives  for  action,  and 
not  as  descriptive. 

Wishing  you  all  honor  and  happiness  on  this  earth,  T  am 
as  always  your  friend, 

W.  T.  SHERMAN. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHEUMAN.  165 

General  Logan  answered  this  letter  immediately,  as  fol 
lows  : 

Tinted  States  Senate,  Washington,  D.  C., 

Sunday,  February  18th,  188:'. 
General  W.  T.  Sherman. 

My  Dear  Sir: — I  have  delayed  acknowledging  your  letter 
of  the  llth  inst.  up  to  this  time  for  the  reas.cn  that  I  have  been 
so  much  engaged  every  moment  of  the  time  that  1  could  not 
sooner  do  so;  for  your  expression  of  kindly  feeling  toward 
me,  I  tender  my  grateful  acknowledgments. 

I  am  inclined,  however,  my  dear  general,  to  the  opinion  that 
had  you  fully  understood  the  situation  in  which  I  was  placed 
at  the  times  mentioned  by  you,  that  I  returned  North  from 
the  army  for  the  purpose  of  taking  part  in  the  political  con 
tests  then  going  on,  that  perhaps  your  criticisms  on  my  then 
course  would  not  have  been  made.  I  did  not  do  it  for  the 
purpose  of  "keeping  a  hold  on  my  people."  I  refused  a  nom 
ination  in  my  own  state,  for  a  very  high  position,  for  the  rea 
son  that  I  would  not  have  anything  to  do  with  parties  while 
the  war  should  last.  In  1863  when  I  went  home  to  canvass  in 
Illinois,  and  to  help  in  Ohio,  General  Grant  was  fully  advised, 
and  knows  that  although  I  had  to  make  application  for  leave 
of  absence,  I  did  not  do  it  of  my  own  volition,  but  at  the  re 
quest  of  those  high  in  authority.  So  when  I  left  on  leave, 
after  the  Atlanta  campaign,  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  I  did  it  at  the 
special  and  private  request  of  the  then  President.  This  I  kept 
to  myself,  and  have  never  made  it  public,  nor  do  I  propose 
to  do  so  now,  but  feel  that  I  may  in  confidence  say  this  to  you, 
that  you  may  see  \vhat  prompted  my  action  in  the  premises.  I 
have  borne  for  this  reason  whatever  I  may  have  suffered  by 
way  of  criticism,  rather  than  turn  criticism  on  the  dead. 

So  far  as  General  Thomas  having  feeling  in  the  matter  you 
mentioned,  I  presume  he  entertained  the  same  feeling  that 
seemed  to  be  general — that  no  one  without  a  military  education 
was  to  be  trusted  to  command  an  army;  this  I  think  was  the 
feeling  then,  and  is  new,  and  will  ever  be.  I  find  no  fault 
with  it ;  this,  as  a  rule,  is  probably  correct,  but  the  experience 
of  the  world  has  occasionally  found  exceptions  to  this  rule.  I 
certainly  never  gave  General  Thomas  any  occasion  to  have 
strong  feelings  against  me.  I  did  complain  that  I  was  not  on 
an  equality  with  him  while  I  commanded  between  Decatur 
and  Stevenson  ;  that  my  passes  on  the  roads  were  not  recog 
nized,  and  I  have  General  Thomas'  letter  afterward,  admitting 
the  fact  and  apologizing  to  me  for  the  conduct  of  his  officers 
in  this  matter.  I,  at  all  times,  co-operated  with  him  cordially 
and  promptly  during  my  stay  at  Iluntsville  and  at  all  other 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 


times  subsequent.  Certainly  I  did  for  him  afterward  what 
few  men  would  have  done.  When  ordered  to  Nashville,  with 
a  view  of  superseding  him,  at  Louisville  I  found  the  situation 
of  matters  and  I  wrote  and  telegraphed  Grant  that  he, 
Thomas,  was  doing  all  he  could,  and  asked  to  be  ordered  back 
to  my  own  command,  which  was  done.  This  I  say  to  show  my 
kind  feeling  for  him  and  to  say  that  if  I  ever  did  anything  to 
cause  him  to  complain  of  me  I  was  not  aware  of  it. 

One  thing,  my  dear  general,  that  T  feel  conscious  of,  and 
that  is  that  no  man  ever  obeyed  your  orders  more  promptly, 
and  but  few  ever  did  you  more  faithful  service  in  carrying  out 
your  plans  and  military  movements  than  myself. 

I  may  have  done  yourself  and  myself  an  injustice  by  not 
disclosing  to  you  the  cause  of  my  returning  North  at  the  time 
I  did,  but  now  you  have  the  reasons  for  it.  I  felt  in  honor  that 
I  could  rest. 

This  letter  is  intended  only  for  full  explanation,  and  for 
yourself  only.  '  T  do  not  feel  aggrieved  as  you  think,  bui  will 
ever  remain  your  friend. 

Yours  truly, 

JOHN  A.  LOGAN. 

I  now  with  reverence  for  his  memory,  admiration  for  his 
heroism  in  battle,  and  love  for  the  man,  hereby  ratify  and  con 
firm  every  word  of  his  letter  of  February  18th,  1883. 

I  was  fully  conscious  that  General  Logan  felt  deeply  what 
he  believed  at  the  time  a  great  wrong  to  himself,  and  that  he 
yet  continued  with  unabated  ardor,  zeal  and  strength  to  fight 
to  the  end  for  the  cause  we  both  held  sacred.  For  the  twenty- 
one  years  since  the  war  has  ended,  we  have  been  closely  asso 
ciated  in  many  army  societies,  which  treasure  the  memories  of 
the  war,  have  shared  the  same  banquets  and  spoken  to  the 
same  audiences.  Only  recently  at  San  Francisco,  Seattle,  and 
Rock  Island,  we  were  together,  each  a  rival  to  give  pleasure 
and  do  honor  to  the  other,  and  still  later,  within  the  past 
month,  he  was  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  his  rooms  next  to 
mine,  and  not  a  night  passed  but  we  were  together  discussing 
old  or  new  events.  Both  of  us  were  men  of  strong  opinions. 
sometimes  of  hasty  expression,  yet  ever  maintaining  the  friend 
ship  which  two  soldiers  should  bear  to  each  other.  Most  un 
doubtedly  did  I  expect  him  to  survive  me,  and  T  have  always 
expressed  a  wish  that  he,  the  then  strongest  type  of  the  volun 
teer  soldier  alive,  might  become  the  President  of  the  United 
States. 

It  is  ordered  otherwise,  but  as  it  is,  he  has  left  to  his  family 
a  name  and  fame  which  could  have  been  little  increased  had 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SIIKRMAN. 


he  lived  to  attain  the  office  for  which  so  many  good  men  con 
tend,  in  spite  of  the  experience  of  the  past. 

"When  the  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  holds  its 
next  meeting  in  Detroit,  next  September,  if  living,  T  may  have 
more  to  say  on  this  subject. 

Your  friend, 

W.  T.  SHERMAN. 

The  following  are  the  passages  from  his  Memoirs,  referred 
to  by  General  Sherman  : 

Memoirs  of  General  William  T.  Sherman.  Vol.  II.  pa  ires 
85  and  86  : 

But  it  first  became  necessary  to  settle  the  important  ques 
tion  of  who  should  succeed  General  McPherson.  General  Lo 
gan  had  taken  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  by 
virtue  of  his  seniority,  and  had  done  well;  but  I  did  not  con 
sider  him  equal  to  the  command  of  three  Corps.  Between  him 
and  General  Blair  there  existed  a  natural  rivalry.  Both  were 
men  of  great  courage  and  talent,  but  were  politicians  by  na 
ture  and  experience,  and  maybe  for  this  reason  they  were  mis 
trusted  by  regular  officers  like  General  Schofield,  Thomas  and 
myself.  It  was  all  important  that  there  should  exist  a  feeling 
of  perfect  understanding  among  the  army  commanders,  and 
at  a  conference  with  General  George  H.  Thomas,  at  the  head 
quarters  of  General  Thomas  J.  Woods,  commanding  a  Division 
of  the  Fourth  Corps,  he  (Thomas)  remonstrated  warmly 
against  my  recommending  that  General  Logan  should  be  as 
signed  to  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  by  rea 
son  of  his  accidental  seniority.  We  discussed  fully  the  merit 
and  qualifications  of  every  officer  of  high  rank  in  the  army,  and 
finally  settled  on  Major-General  0.  0.  Howard  as  the  best 
officer  who  was  present  and  available  for  the  purpose.  On  the 
24th  of  July,  I  telegraphed  to  General  Halleck  this  prefer 
ence  and  it  was  promptly  ratified  by  the  President.  General 
Howard's  place  in  command  of  the  Fourth  Corps  was  filled 
by  General  Stanley,  one  of  his  Division  commanders,  on  recom 
mendation  of  General  Thomas. 

All  these  promotions  happened  to  fall  upon  West  Pointers, 
and  doubtless  Logan  and  Blair  had  some  reasons  to  believe 
that  we  intended  to  monopolize  the  higher  honors  of  the  war 
for  the  regular  officers.  I  remember  well  my  own  thoughts 
and  feelings  at  the  time,  and  feel  sure  that  I  was  not  intention 
ally  partial  to  my  class.  I  wanted  to  succeed  in  taking  Atlan 
ta,  and  needed  commanders  who  were  purely  and  technically 
soldiers,  men  who  would  obey  orders  and  execute  them 
promptly  and  on  time  :  for  T  knew  that  we  would  have  to  exe- 


168  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

cute  some  difficult  maneuvers,  requiring  the  utmost  skill, 
nicety,  and  precision.  I  believed  that  General  Howard  would 
do  all  these  faithfully  and  well,  and  I  think  the  result  has  jus 
tified  my  choice.  I  regarded  them  both,  Generals  Logan  and 
Blair,  as  "volunteers,"  that  looked  to  personal  fame  and  glory 
as  auxiliary,  and  secondary  to  their  political  ambition,  and 
not  as  professional  soldiers. 

During  the  battles  around  Atlanta,  and  after  we  had  gone 
from  the  left  to  the  right,  it  was  my  misfortune  to  be  given 
a  confederate  leave,  for  I  was  supposed  to  be  fatally  wounded. 
The  doctor  reported  to  Sherman,  and  he,  desiring  to  keep  the 
news  from  my  family,  instructed  every  telegraph  operator  to 
send  only  his  dispatches,  but  in  doing  this  he  forgot  that  there 
was  nothing  that  occurred  but  what  went  over  the  wires  imme 
diately.  So  the  news  reached  my  people  that  I  had  been  fat 
ally  wounded.  Dispatches  came  to  my  staff,  trying  to  obtain 
the  facts,  but  they  could  not  reply  because  of  Sherman's  or 
ders.  In  talking  about  it  afterwards,  he  said : 

I  acted  from  my  instincts.  I  simply  wished  to  send  the 
truth,  but  I  only  succeeded  in  making  trouble,  and  that  has  al 
ways  happened  to  me  when  I  tried  to  be  extra  cautious;  I 
always  put  my  foot  in  it ;  some  smart  Aleck  gets  ahead  of  me. 

As  soon  as  Sherman  heard  I  was  wounded  he  came  to  my 
tent  with  Dr.  Kiddo,  his  chief  surgeon,  and  found  a  surgeon  of 
my  own  Corps  in  charge  of  me.  As  soon  as  the  shock  of  the 
wound  passed  away  T  gradually  became  conscious  as  to  hear 
ing,  but  not  as  to  seeing,  and  the  first  words  I  heard  were  when 
Sherman  turned  on  Dr.  Kiddo  and  said:  "Kiddo,  Dodge  is 
not  going  to  die.  See,  he  is  coming  to  all  right."  You  can 
imagine  what  my  feelings  were  on  hearing  talk  of  that  kind 
from  Sherman.  I  recognized  his  voice,  and  also  the  fact  that 
probably  I  w^as  badly  hurt.  The  doctors  advised  Sherman  to 
send  me  North,  but  Sherman  said  :  ' '  No,  we  can  keep  Dodge 
two  weeks,  and  then  he  will  be  all  right;  we  want  him  with 
his  Corps." 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  169 

I  considered  the  fact  that  he  would  not  let  me  go  to  the 
rear  until  he  was  forced  to  swing  around  south  of  Atlanta, 
and  abandon  everything  to  the  north,  one  of  the  greatest  com 
pliments  he  ever  paid  me. 

I  was  taken  to  Greenville,  Ind.,  to  a  relative,  for  a  rest 
before  I  was  sent  to  my  own  home  in  Iowa.  The  first  or  sec 
ond  evening  after  I  arrived  in  Greenville,  as  I  lay  upon  my 
cot,  I  listened  to  the  demonstrations  being  made  by  the  re 
turn  of  the  delegates  who  had  been  to  Chicago  and  nominated 
McClellan.  I  was  astonished  and  indignant  to  hear  cheer  after 
cheer  given  at  the  station  for  Jefferson  Davis.  I  could  hardly 
realize  that  I  was  in  a  northern  state,  not  having  been  north 
before  since  the  beginning  of  the  war.  I  now  realize  what 
was  meant  by  the  term  "copperhead"  and  "fire  in  the  rear." 
As  soon  as  I  was  able,  I  sat  down  and  wrote  this  to  Sherman. 
It  was  some  time  afterwards  when  I  received  his  answer, 
which  is  too  characteristic  to  publish,  but  it  said : 

We  will  settle  with  those  fellows  after  we  get  through 
down  here. 

While  in  front  of  Atlanta,  General  Sherman  wrote  this 
remarkable  letter  to  an  old  friend  away  in  Georgia : 

Headquarters,  Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi, 
In  the  Field  Near  Atlanta,  Georgia, 

August  10th,  1864. 
Daniel  M.  Martin,  Sand  Mountain. 

My  Dear  Friend : — When  in  Larkinsville  last  winter,  I  en 
quired  after  you,  and  could  get  no  positive  answer.  I  wish 
you  had  sent  me  your  letter  of  January  22d,  which  I  have  just 
received,  for  I  could  have  made  you  feel  at  ease  at  once.  In 
deed,  do  I  well  remember  our  old  times  about  Belief onte,  and 
the  ride  we  took  to  the  corn  mills,  and  the  little  farm  where  I 
admired  the  handsome  colt  and  tried  to  buy  it.  Time  has  worn 
on,  and  you  are  now  an  old  man,  in  want,  and  suffering,  and  I 
also,  no  longer  young,  but  leading  a  hostile  army  on  the  very 
road  I  came  when  I  left  Belief  onte,  and,  at  the  moment,  pour 
ing  into  Atlanta  the  dread  missiles  of  war,  seeking  the  lives  of 
its  people.  And  yet,  I  am  the  same  William  Tecumseh  Sher- 


170  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

man  you  knew  in  1844,  with  as  warm  a  heart  as  ever,  and 
anxious  that  peace  and  plenty  shall  prevail  in  this  land,  and, 
to  prove  it,  I  defy  Jeff  Davis,  or  General  Lee,  or  General  Hood 
to  make  the  sacrifice  for  peace  that  T  will,  personally  or  of 
ficially. 

I  will  today  lay  down  my  power  and  my  honor — already 
won — will  strip  myself  naked,  and  my  wife  and  child  stark 
naked  in  the  world  as  we  came,  and  begin  life  anew,  if  the 
people  of  the  South  will  but  cease  the  war,  elect  their  mem 
bers  of  Congress  and  let  them  settle,  by  argument  and  reason, 
the  question  growing  out  of  slavery,  instead  of  trying  to 
divide  our  country  into  two  angry  halves,  to  quarrel  and  fight 
to  the  end  of  time.  Our  country  cannot  divide  by  an  east  and 
west  line,  and  must  be  one,  and  if  we  must  fight,  let  us  fight 
it  out  now,  and  not  bequeath  it  to  our  children:  I  was  never  a 
politician,  but  resigned  from  the  army  and  lived  in  California 
till  1857,  when  T  came  back  with  my  wife  and  three  children, 
who  wanted  to  be  near  home — Mr.  Ewing's,  not  Mr.  Corwin's 
— but  I  had  the  old  army  so  ground  in  my  composition  that 
civil  pursuits  were  too  tame  and  I  accepted  an  offer  as  presi 
dent  of  the  Louisiana  Military  Academy.  Therefore,  at  the 
time  of  Lincoln's  election,  I  was  at  Alexandria,  on  Red  River. 

I  saw,  and  you  must  have  seen,  that  the  southern  politi 
cians  wanted  to  bring  about  secession — separation:  They 
could  have  elected  Mr.  Douglass  but  they  so  managed  that 
Lincoln's  election  was  made  certain,  and  after  they  had  ac 
complished  this,  was  it  honest  or  fair  for  them  to  allege  it  as  a 
cause  of  war?  Did  not  Mr.  Breckenridge  as  Vice  President,  in 
his  seat  declare  Mr.  Lincoln  the  lawfully  elected  President  of 
the  United  States?  Was  it  ever  pretended  the  President  was 
our  Government?  Don't  you  know  that  Congress  makes  laws, 
the  supreme  court  judges  them,  and  the  President  only  exe 
cutes  them?  Don't  you  know  that  Mr.  Lincoln  of  himself 
could  not  take  away  your  rights?  Now,  I  was  in  Louisiana, 
and  while  the  planters  and  mechanics  and  industrious  people 
were  happy  and  prosperous,  the  politicians  and  busybodies 
were  scheming  and  plotting,  and  got  the  Legislature  to  pass  an 
ordinance  of  secession,  which  was  submitted  to  the  people,  who 
voted  against  it,  yet  the  politicians  voted  the  State  out,  pro 
ceeded  to  take  possession  of  the  United  States  mint,  the  forts, 
the  arsenal — and  tore  down  our  flag  and  insulted  it.  That,  too, 
before  Mr.  Lincoln  had  got  to  Washington.  T  saw  these  things, 
and  begged  Bragg  and  Beauregard,  and  Governor  Moore,  and 
a  host  of  other  friends  to  beware.  In  that  was  high  treason. 
But  they  answered,  "The  North  was  made  up  of  mean  manu 
facturers,  of  traders,  of  farmers,  who  would  not  fight."  The 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  (SHERMAN.  171 

people  of  the  North  NEVER  dreamed  of  interfering  with  the 
slaves  or  property  of  the  South.  They  simply  voted,  AS  THEY 
HAD  A  RIGHT  TO  DO,  and  they  could  not  understand  why 
the  people  of  the  South  should  begin  to  take  possession  of  the 
United  States  forts  and  arsenals  till  our  Government  had  done 
something  wrong — something  oppressive.  The  South  BEGAN 
the  war.  You  know  it.  I,  and  millions  of  others  living  at  the 
South,  know  it — but  the  people  of  the  North  were  as  innocent 
of  it  as  your  little  grandchild.  Even  after  forts  had  been 
taken,  public  arms  stolen  from  our  arsenals  and  distributed 
among  the  angry  militia,  the  brave  and  honest  freemen  of  the 
great  North  could  not  realize  the  fact,  and  did  not  until 
Beauregard  began  to  fire  upon  a  garrison  of  United  States 
troops,  in  a  fort  built  by  the  common  treasury  of  the  WHOLE 
country.  Then,  as  by  a  mighty  upheaval,  the  people  rose  and 
began  to  think  of  war,  and  not  until  then. 

I  resigned  my  post  in  Louisiana  in  March,  1861,  because  of 
the  public  act  on  the  part  of  the  State  in  seizing  the  United 
States  arsenal  at  Baton  Rouge,  and  went  to  St.  Louis,  where  I 
received  lucrative  employment,  hoping  that  some  change  would 
yet  avert  the  war.  But  it  came,  and  I,  and  all  of  military  edu 
cation,  had  to  choose.  I  repeat,  that  then,  as  now,  I  had  as 
much  love  for  the  honest  people  of  the  South  as  any  man  liv 
ing.  Had  they  remained  true  to  the  country,  I  would  have 
resisted,  even  with  arms,  any  attack  upon  their  rights — even 
their  slave  rights.  But  when,  as  a  people,  they  tore  down  our 
flag,  and  spit  upon  it,  and  called  us  cowards,  and  dared  us  to 
the  contest,  then  I  took  up  arms  to  maintain  the  integrity  of 
our  country,  and  punish  the  man  who  challenged  us  to  the  con 
flict.  Is  this  not  a  true  picture?  Suppose  the  North  had  pa 
tiently  submitted,  what  would  have  been  the  verdict  of  his 
tory  and  the  world?  Nothing  else  but  that  the  North  was 
craven  and  cowardly.  Will  you  say  the  North  is  craven  and 
cowardly  now? 

Cruel  and  inhuman  as  this  war  has  been,  and  may  still  con 
tinue  to  be,  it  was  forced  upon  ns.  We  had  no  choice  and  we 
have  no  choice  yet.  We  must  go  on,  even  to  the  end  of  time, 
even  if  it  result  in  sinking  a  million  of  lives  and  desolating 
the  whole  land,  leaving  a  desert  behind.  We  must  maintain 
the  integrity  of  our  country.  And  the  day  will  come  when 
the  little  grandchild  you  love  so  well,  will  bless  us  who  fought, 
that  the  United  States  of  America  should  not  sink  into  infamy 
and  worse  than  Mexican  Monarchy,  who  care  no  more  for  you, 
or  such  as  you.  than  they  care  for  the  Hottentots.  I  have  nev- 
er  under-rated  the  magnitude  of  this  war,  for  I  know  the  size 
of  the  South,  and  the  difficulty  of  operating  in  it.  But,  I  also 


172  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

know  the  northern  races  have,  ever  since  the  war  began,  had 
more  patience  and  perseverance  than  the  southern  races.  And 
so  it  will  be  now,  we  will  persevere  until  the  end.  All  man 
kind  shall  recognize  in  us  a  brave  and  stubborn  race,  not  to 
be  deterred  by  the  magnitude  of  the  danger.  Only  three 
years  have  passed,  and  that  is  but  a  minute  in  a  nation's  life, 
and  see  where  we  are.  Where  are  the  haughty  planters  of 
Louisiana,  who  compared  our  hard-working,  intelligent  whites 
of  the  North  with  their  negroes? 

The  defeats  we  have  sustained  have  hardly  made  a  pause 
in  our  course,  and  the  vaunted  braves  of  Tennessee,  Mississip 
pi,  Louisiana,  Missouri,  etc.,  instead  of  walking  rough-shod 
over  the  freemen  of  the  North,  are  engaged  in  stealing  horses 
and  robbing  poor  old  people  for  a  living,  while  our  armies  now 
tread  in  every  southern  state,  and  your  biggest  armies  in  Vir 
ginia  and  Georgia  lie  behind  forts,  and  dare  not  come  out  and 
fight  us  cowards  of  the  North,  who  have  come  five  hundred 
miles  into  their  country  to  accept  the  challenge. 

But,  my  dear  old  friend,  I  have  bored  you  too  much.  My 
handwriting  is  not  plain,  but  you  have  time  to  study  it  out. 
and,  as  you  can  understand,  I  have  a  great  deal  of  writing  to 
do,  and  it  must  be  done  in  a  hurry.  Think  of  what  I  have 
written.  Talk  it  over  with  your  neighbors,  *md  ask  your 
selves  if,  in  your  trials  and  tribulations,  you  have  suffered 
more  from  the  Union  soldiery  than  you  would  had  you  built 
your  barn  where  the  lightning  was  sure  to  burn  or  tear  it 
down.  Their  course  has  provoked  the  punishment  of  an  in 
dignant  God  and  Government.  I  care  not  a  straw  for  niggers. 
The  moment  the  master  rebels,  the  negro  is  free,  of  course,  for 
he  is  a  slave  only  by  law,  and  the  law  broken,  he  is  free.  T 
commanded  in  all  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Mississippi,  Alabama 
and  Georgia.  The  paper  I  endorse  will  be  of  service  to  you. 

Love  to  Mrs.  Martin. 

W.  T.  SHERMAN, 

Major-General. 

It  was  on  the  1st  of  September  that  I  parted  with  the  Army 
of  the  Tennessee.  During  my  convalescence  I  visited  General 
Grant  and  that  magnificent  Army  of  the  Potomac  at  City 
Point.  As  soon  as  able,  I  had  orders  to  proceed  to  Vicksburg, 
and  it  was  the  intention  while  Sherman  marched  to  Savannah 
that  I  should  take  a  column  from  somewhere  in  that  country 
and  get  to  the  rear  of  Mobile,  and  at  St.  Louis  I  received  dis 
patches  from  General  Howard  to  repair  to  .St.  Louis,  and  there 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 173 

fell  to  the  command  of  the  Department  of  the  Missouri,  re 
lieving  General  Eosecrans.  The  first  order  I  received  cninc 
from  Stanton;  it  was  a  complimentary  message  from  Grant, 
telling  me  I  must  send  everything  I  could  to  help  Thomas  at 
Nashville,  and  I  sent  out  of  that  department  every  organized 
force.  When  the  battle  of  Nashville  was  fought  I  had  not  an 
organized  Union  regiment  in  my  department. 

I  found  General  Sherman's  family  in  St.  Louis,  and  natur 
ally,  coming  from  an  old  commander  like  him,  it  was  my  pleas 
ure  to  do  anything  and  everything  I  could  do  for  his  family. 
Mrs.  Sherman  was  trying  to  soften  the  hardships  of  war  by 
getting  people  out  of  prison,  and  by  relieving  their  necessities. 
There  had  been  a  great  many  arrests  made.  I  found  the  pris 
ons  full  and  commenced  emptying  them,  with  the  idea  that  it 
was  a  great  deal  cheaper  to  let  these  people  talk  than  to  feed 
them,  but  I  got  one  or  two  severe  reprimands  for  so  doing.  I 
know  that  Mrs.  Sherman  wrote  to  the  General  and  told  him 
what  I  was  doing,  and  how  kind  I  was  to  her,  and  how  I  car 
ried  out  any  requests  she  made,  so  far  as  it  was  possible  for  me 
to  do  so;  and  Sherman,  still  looking  after  my  interests,  as  he 
had  always  done,  wrote  me  a  letter  and  said : 

You  must  not  issue  these  orders  and  release  these  people 
simply  because  Mrs.  Sherman  requests  you  to  do  so.  You  must 
use  your  own  judgment  in  this  matter,  and  only  issue  orders 
where  you  know  it  is  absolutely  right. 

He  said  it  in  a  kindly  way,  and  he  said  a  great  many  other 
things  in  his  letter  to  me  about  my  policy.  He  also  said : 

I  appreciate  fully  what  you  are  doing,  and  why  you  do  it. 
but,  my  dear  General,  you  know  you  must  still  cling  to  a  sol 
dier's  duty. 

While  I  was  in  command  of  that  department,  Lee  and 
Johnston  surrendered.  I  had  received  an  order  from  Secre 
tary  Stanton  instructing  me  to  pay  no  attention  to  the  Sher- 


174  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

man  and  Johnston  parole.  During  this  excitement  a  dinner 
was  given  at  the  Lindell  Hotel,  that  brought  together  the  loyal 
people  of  St.  Louis,  to  which  I  was  invited  as  commander  of 
that  department.  I  was  astonished  to  hear  Union  people  get 
tip  and  denounce  Sherman,  criticising  not  only  his  acts  but  his 
motives.  I  listened  as  long  as  I  could  to  these  excitable  speak 
ers,  and  finally  got  up  and  stated  that  I  had  served  near  and 
under  Sherman  for  two  years,  and  while  I  knew  nothing  at  all 
about  the  terms  of  surrender  of  Johnston,  except  the  orders  T 
had  received  from  the  Government,  nevertheless,  T  did  not 
propose  to  stay  at  any  dinner  table,  or  any  assembly  of  any  kind 
where  the  loyalty  of  Sherman  was  questioned;  that  whatever 
he  had  done,  whether  right  or  wrong,  had  been  done  by  a 
soldier  who  had  but  one  thing  at  heart — his  duty  to  his  coun 
try  and  1he  destruction  of  the  rebel  army.  It  was  not  very  long 
after  this  that  my  words  reached  Sherman.  They  brought 
back  the  kind  of  response  that  he  made  in  such  cases,  and  it 
was  only  a  short  time  after  this  until  Sherman  himself  ap 
peared  at  his  home  in  St.  Louis.  The  war  being  virtually  over, 
and  being  an  old  resident  of  that  city,  it  was  natural  when  he 
arrived  that  the  people  should  seize  upon  him  and  pay  him 
great  attention,  take  him  out  to  dinners,  etc.  A  great  many 
of  his  old  friends  were  rebels,  and  I  suppose  they  saw  in  his 
terms  to  Johnston  an  opportunity  to  break  the  force  of  the 
Union  sentiment  against  them,  for  there  was  no  place  in  the 
whole  United  States  where  the  bitterness  of  the  Union  and 
rebel  sentiment  was  so  apparent  as  it  was  in  the  state  of  Mis 
souri.  It  kept  the  state  in  dissensions  during  the  entire  war. 
The  attentions  of  the  sympathizers  with  the  rebellion  to  Sher 
man  were  very  marked,  so  much  so  that  some  of  the  Union 
people  called  upon  me  and  talked  to  me  about  it,  and  when 
Sherman  came  down  to  my  headquarters,  as  he  did  daily,  I 
spoke  to  him  about  it,  and  told  him  how  they  were  talking 
and  how  they  felt.  He  said:  "They  are  going  to  give  me  a 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  GJ<  SIIKUMAN.  175 

dinner  here  in  a  few  days,  and  General,  don't  you  worry.  I 
will  settle  that  question  there." 

He  made  a  remarkable  speech  at  that  dinner.  He  said  that 
since  the  war  was  over  he  did  not  feel  that  it  was  necessary 
for  him  to  refuse  any  attentions,  no  matter  from  whom  they 
came,  but  when  it  came  to  the  question  between  loyal  men  and 
rebels  everyone  knew  where  his  heart  was,  and  everyone  knew 
what  his  thoughts  were ;  that  it  was  only  the  clemency  of  the 
government  that  saved  them  from  receiving  their  just  dues  long 
before  this  time.  AVe  never  heard  anything  more  in  that 
country  as  to  Sherman's  position,  and  no  one  after  that  mis 
understood  him.  At  this  banquet  given  in  his  honor  at  the 
Lindell  Hotel,  St.  Louis,  July  20,  1865,  Sherman  spoke  as  fol 
lows: 

1  feel  tonight  more  than  usually  honored,  for  I  am  in  the 
presence  of  many  with  whom  I  have  been  associated  in  years 
gone  by — in  business,  in  the  social  circle,  and  in  public  af 
fairs.  To  receive  the  warm  commendations  I  have  just  heard 
from  the  gentleman  preceding  me  affords  me  the  greatest 
pleasure,  and  I  would  that  I  were  as  gifted  as  my  friend  who 
has  just  taken  his  seat,  so  I  might  interest  you — I  would  travel 
all  over  the  world  to  find  topics  to  suit  the  occasion.  Gladly 
would  I  talk  of  Greece  and  Rome  (but  I  fear  they  are  gone  by) 
or  better  still,  point  to  the  history  of  our  own  great  country, 
that  is  teeming  with  recollections,  recollections  that  to  me  are 
doubly,  trebly  dear,  from  associations ;  to  the  history  of  the 
Spaniard  on  the  lone  river,  or  still  more  to  old  Colonel  Bonne- 
ville,  who  is  yet  living  among  you,  and  whom  I  saw  yesterday. 
But  the  world  sweeps  on,  and  I  will  not  pause,  for  I  see,  by  the 
paper  before  me,  that  you  bring  me  before  you  as  an  actor  in 
the  scenes  just  past;  that  you  bring  me  as  one  of  those  men 
who  have  simply  wafted  our  country  past  a  dangerous  abyss, 
and  placed  it  on  firm  ground  where  it  may  sally  forth  again 
on  a  new  career  of  prosperty  and  glory.  (Cheers.)  I  admit 
that  the  past  four  years  seem  even  to  me  a  dream ;  I  can  hard 
ly  realize  the  part  I  have  taken,  although  step  by  step  rises  up 
when  my  memory  retraces  them,  but  yet  it  seems  to  me  as  a 
dream  that  men  reared  under  our  laws — men  who  were  enjoy 
ing  prosperity,  which  they  themselves  admitted  never  was  sur 
passed,  should  rise  up  in  rebellion  against  the  land  and  Gov 
ernment  of  Washington.  Tt  seems  to  me  an  impossibility:  but 


176  PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

it  is  now  past,  thank  God.  (Cheers.)  We  have  a  right,  as  citi 
zens  and  historians,  to  cast  our  eyes  and  memory  back,  and  see 
if  in  the  past  events  we  can  learn  lessons,  lessons  of  wisdom 
that  will  make  us  better  men,  better-citizens  and  better  patriots 
in  the  future ;  and  if  I  can  trace  anything  in  the  past  calcu 
lated  to  effect  this  object,  I  will  account  myself  repaid. 

Here,  in  St.  Louis,  probably,  began  the  great  center  move 
ment  which  terminated  the  war ;  a  battlefield  such  as  never  be 
fore  was  seen,  extending  from  ocean  to  ocean  almost  with  the 
right  wing  and  the  left  wing,  and  from  the  center  here,  I  re 
member  one  evening,  up  in  the  old  Planters'  House,  sitting 
with  General  Halleck  and  General  Cullman,  and  we  were  talk 
ing  about  this  and  that  and  the  other;  a  map  was  on  the  table, 
and  I  was  explaining  the  position  of  the  troops  of  the  enemy 
in  Kentucky.  When  I  came  to  this  state,  General  Halleck  knew 
well  the  position  here,  and  I  remember  well  the  question  he 
asked  me — the  question  of  the  school  teacher  to  his  child : 
"Sherman,  here  is  the  line,  how  will  you  break  that  line?" 
"Physically,  by  a  perpendicular  force."  "Where  is  the  per 
pendicular?"  "The  line  of  the  Tennessee."  General  Halleck 
is  the  author  of  that  first  beginning,  and  I  give  him  credit  for 
it  with  pleasure.  (Cheers.)  These  were  the  grand  strategic 
features  of  that  movement,  and  it  succeeded  perfectly.  Gen 
eral  Halleck 's  plan  went  further — not  to  stop  at  his  first  line 
which  run  through  Columbus,  Bowling  Green,  crossing  the 
river  at  Henry  and  Donelson,  but  to  push  on  to  the  second 
line  which  run  through  Memphis  and  Charleston.  But  troubles 
intervened  at  Nashville,  and  delays  followed ;  opposition  to  the 
last  movement  was  made,  and  I  myself  was  brought  an  actor 
on  the  scene.  I  remember  our  ascent  on  the  Tennessee  river ; 
I  have  seen  tonight  captains  of  steamboats  who  first  went  with 
us  there ;  storms  came  and  we  did  not  reach  the  point  desired. 
At  that  time  General  C.  F.  Smith  was  in  command;  he  was  a 
man  indeed.  All  the  old  officers  remember  him  as  a  gallant  and 
elegant  officer  and  had  he  lived,  probably  some  of  us  younger 
fellows  would  not  have  attained  our  present  positions.  But 
that  is  now  past.  We  followed  the  line — the  second  line — and 
then  came  the  landing  of  forces  at  Pittsburg  Landing.  Wheth 
er  it  was  a  mistake  in  landing  them  on  the  west  instead  of  the 
east  bank,  it  is  not  necessary  now  to  discuss.  I  think  it  was 
not  a  mistake ;  there  was  gathered  the  first  great  army  of  the 
West — commencing  with  only  twelve  thousand,  then  twenty, 
then  thirty  thousand,  and  we  had  about  thirty-eight  thousand 
in  that  battle,  and  all  I  claim  for  that  is  that  it  was  a  contest 
for  manhood;  there  was  no  strategy.  Grant  was  there,  and 
others  of  us,  all  young  and  unknown  men  at  that  time,  but 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  177 

our  enemy  was  old,  and  Sidney  Johnston,  whom  all  the  officers 
remember  as  a  power  among  the  old  officers,  high  above  Grant, 
myself  or  anybody  else,  led  the  enemy  on  that  battlefield,  and 
I  almost  wonder  how  we  conquered.  But  as  I  remarked,  it  was 
a  contest  for  manhood — man  to  man — soldier  to  soldier.  We 
fought  and  we  held  our  grounds  and  therefore  accounted  our 
selves  victorious.  (Cheers.)  From  that  time  forward,  we 
had  with  us  the  prestige ;  that  battle  was  worth  millions  and 
millions  to  us  by  reason  of  the  fact  of  the  courage  displayed 
by  the  brave  soldiers  on  that  occasion,  and  from  that  time  to 
this,  I  never  heard  of  the  first  want  of  courage  on  the  part  of 
our  northern  soldiers.  (Cheers.)  It  then  became  a  grand 
game  of  war;  armies  were  accounted  equal,  and  skill  and 
generalship  came  into  play.  We  gained  there  by  the  move 
ment  on  Corinth  which  Halleck  designed  here ;  there  his  com 
mand  ceased,  and  a  new  shuffle  of  the  cards  of  war  was  made. 
Halleck  went  to  the  east  and  Grant  to  the  West,  but  summer 
overtook  us  with  the  heat,  and  we  could  not  march.  Northern 
Mississippi  wTas  dry  as  ashes;  it  was  impossible  for  men  to  live 
and  march  from  stream  to  stream,  and  to  follow  the  roads  that 
lie  between  these,  men  would  have  parched  with  thirst ;  been 
overcome  by  heat.  Therefore  we  delayed  until  fall,  and  late 
that  fall  I  met  Grant  by  appointment  at  Columbus;  there  again 
we  went  over  the  map,  and  the  next  thing  was  to  break  the 
line  of  the  Tallahatchie.  Many  of  you  here  remember  that 
movement.  You  citizens  do  not  understand  it  at  all,  for  I 
have  never  yet  seen  a  newspaper  account  of  it  that  approxi 
mates  the  truth.  (Laughter.)  Pemberton  commanded  the 
army  of  the  Confederacy  in  our  front.  We  had  superior  num 
bers,  our  men  were  scattered,  and  we  first  concentrated  on 
Tallahatchie,  below  Holly  Springs.  Grant  moved  direct  on 
Pemberton,  while  I  moved  from  Memphis,  and  struck  directly 
into  Granada,  and  the  first  thing  Pemberton  knew,  the  depot 
of  his  supplies  was  almost  in  the  grasp  of  a  small  cavalry  force, 
and  he  fell  into  confusion,  and  gave  us  the  Tallahatchie  with 
out  a  battle.  But  with  some  people  an  object  gained  without 
a  battle  is  nothing.  In  war  we  gain  success  by  any  and  every 
means;  it  is  not  fighting  alone.  Bulls  do  that,  and  bears,  and 
all  beasts,  but  men  attain  objects  by  intellect,  and  the  intro 
duction  of  physical  power,  moved  upon  salient  points.  And 
so  we  gained  the  Tallahatchie,  and  although  hardly  a  gun  was 
fired,  yet  we  gained  a  battle  equal  in  its  results  to  any  other 
battle  on  earth.  (Cheers.)  It  gave  us  uninterrupted  posses 
sion  of  Northern  Mississippi  and  undisputed  possession  of  the 
resources  of  that  country;  and  that  country  has  been  in  our 
possession  ever  since,  in  a  military  sense. 


178  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

Then  came  the  great  campaign  down  your  river,  of  which 
you  and  I  and  all  of  us  were  more  deeply  interested  than  in  any 
other  that  can  be  developed  on  this  continent.  The  possession 
of  the  Mississippi  river  is  the  possession  of  America,  (cheers) 
and  I  say  that  had  the  Southern  Confederacy — (call  it  by  what 
name  you  may) — had  that  power  represented  by  the  Southern 
Confederacy,  held  writh  a  grip  sufficiently  strong  the  lower  part 
of  the  Mississippi  River,  we  would  have  been  a  subjugated 
people,  and  they  would  have  dictated  to  us  if  we  had  given  up 
the  possession  of  the  lower  Mississippi.  It  was  vital  to  us, 
and  w^e  fought  for  it,  and  won  it,  We  determined  to  have  it, 
but  we  could  not  go  down  with  our  frail  boats  past  the  batteries 
of  Vicksburg.  It  was  a  physical  impossibility,  therefore  what 
was  to  be  done?  After  the  Tallahatchie  line  was  carried. 
Vicksburg  was  the  next  point.  I  went  with  a  small  and  hastily 
collected  force  and  repeatedly  endeavored  to  make  a  lodg 
ment  on  the  bluffs  between  Vicksburg  and  Hain's  Bluff,  while 
General  Grant  moved  with  his  main  army  so  as  to  place  him 
self  on  the  high  plateau  behind  Vicksburg,  but  "man  proposes 
and  God  disposes,"  and  we  failed  on  that  occasion.  I  then 
gathered  my  hastily  collected  force  and  went  down  further, 
and  then,  for  the  first  time  I  took  General  Blair  and  his  Brigade 
under  my  command.  On  the  very  day  I  had  agreed  to  be  there 
I  was  there,  and  we  swung  our  flanks  around,  and  the  present 
Governor  of  Missouri  fell  a  prisoner  to  the  enemy  on  that  day. 
We  failed.  I  waited  anxiously  for  a  co-operating  force  inland 
and  below  us,  but  they  did  not  come,  and  after  I  had  made  the 
assault  I  learned  that  the  depot  at  Holly  Springs  had  been 
broken  up,  and  that  General  Grant  had  sent  me  word  not  to 
attempt  it.  But  it  was  too  late.  Nevertheless,  although  we 
were  to  carry  it  at  first,  there  were  other  things  to  be  done. 
The  war  covered  such  a  vast  area  there  was  plenty  to  do.  I 
thought  of  that  affair  at  Arkansas  Post,  although  others  claim 
it;  and  they  may  have  it  if  they  want  it.  We  cleaned  them 
out  there  and  General  Grant  then  brought  his  whole  army  to 
Vicksburg,  and  you,  in  St.  Louis,  remember  well  that  long 
winter — how  we  were  on  the  levee,  with  the  water  rising  and 
drowning  us  like  muskrats ;  how  we  were  seeking  channels 
through  Deer  Creek  and  Yazoo  Pass,  and  how  we  finally  cut 
a  canal  across  the  peninsulas,  in  front  of  Vicksburg.  But  at 
that  time  the  true  movement  was  the  original  movement,  and 
everything  approximating  to  it  came  nearer  the  truth.  But 
we  could  not  make  a  retrograde  movement.  Why?  Because 
your  people  of  the  North  were  too  noisy.  We  could  not  take 
a  step  backwards,  and  for  that  reason  we  were  forced  to  run 
the  batteries  of  Vicksburg.  It  is  said  T  protested  against  it 
—it  is  folly.  I  never  protested  in  my  life — never.  (Laughter.^ 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  Si i HUMAN.  179 

On  the  contrary,  General  Grant  rested  on  me  probably  more 
responsibility  even  than  any  other  commander  under  him,  for 
he  wrote  me,  "I  want  you  to  move  upon  Hams'  Bluff,  to  enable 
me  to  pass  to  the  next  fort  below — Grand  Gulf.  I  hate  to  ask 
you  because  the  fervor  of  the  North  will  accuse  you  of  being 
rebellious  again."  (Laughter.)  I  love  Grant  for  his  kindness. 
I  did  make  the  feint  on  Hains'  Bluff  and  by  that  means  Grant 
ran  the  blockade  easily  to  Grand  Gulf,  and  made  lodgment 
down  there  and  got  his  army  upon  the  high  plateau  in  the  rear 
of  Vicksburg,  while  you  people  here  were  beguiled  into  the 
belief  that  Sherman  was  again  repulsed.  But  we  did  not  re 
pose  confidence  in  everybody.  Then  followed  the  movement  on 
Jackson,  and  the  Fourth  of  July  placed  us  in  possession  of  that 
great  stronghold,  Vicksburg,  and  then,  as  Mr.  Lincoln  said, 
"The  Mississippi  went  unvexed  to  the  sea." 

From  that  day  to  this,  this  war  has  been  virtually  and 
properly  settled.  It  was  a  certainty,  then.  They  would  have 
said,  "We  give  up,"  but  Davis  would  not  ratify  it,  and  he  had 
them  under  good  discipline,  and  therefore  it  was  necessary  to 
fight  again.  Then  came  the  affair  of  Chickamauga.  The  Army 
of  the  Mississippi,  tying  along  its  banks,  were  called  into  a  new 
field  of  action,  and  so  one  morning  early  I  got  orders  to  go  to 
Chattanooga.  I  did  not  knowr  where  it  was  hardly.  (Laugh 
ter.)  I  did  not  know  the  road  to  go  there.  But  I  found  it, 
and  got  there  in  time  (laughter  and  cheers),  and  although 
my  men  were  shoeless  and  the  cold  bitter  frosts  of  winter  were 
upon  us,  still  I  must  go  to  Knoxville,  130  miles  further,  to 
relieve  Burnside.  That  march  we  made  (A  Voice — and  you 
got  there  in  time).  Then  winter  forced  us  to  lie  quiet.  Dur 
ing  the  winter  I  took  a  little  exercise  down  the  river,  but  that 
is  of  no  account. 

But  as  spring  came  on,  General  Grant  and  I  met  at  Nash 
ville  and  talked  the  matter  over,  and  we  agreed  that  I  should 
take  all  the  armies  that  I  could  make  out  of  the  Western  arm 
ies  and  fight  Joe  Johnston,  go  where  he  might,  while  he  took 
the  more  ungracious  task — the  command  of  the  old  Army  of 
the  Potomac.  (Laughter.)  We  agreed  upon  the  time  at  which 
we  should  be  ready,  and  we  were  ready  almost  at  the  same 
time,  and  moved  upon  the  common  enemy  nearly  simultan 
eously,  although  a  thousand  miles  apart.  The  history  of  that 
is  so  well  known  that  I  need  not  tell  it.  Grant  struggled  at 
Petersburg  and  I  at  Atlanta,  and  for  a  time  things  looked  dark, 
and  as  though  at  last  we  had  come  to  a  dead  standstill.  But 
it  was  not  so  bad  as  that.  As  long  as  there  is  a  will  there  is  a 
way,  and  there  was  a  will  there,  and  that  will  pointed  towards 
Jonesboro,  and  we  took  Atlanta.  (Loud  cheers.)  You  cannot 
attain  great  success  in  war  without  great  risks.  I  admit  we 


180  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

violated  many  of  the  old  established  rules  of  war  by  cutting 
loo'se  from  our  base  and  exposing  60,000  lives.  But  when  a 
thing  has  got  to  be  done  it  has  got  to  be  done.  (Laughter  and 
cheers.)  I  had  faith  in  the  army  I  commanded;  that  faith 
was  well  founded.  But  there  was  the  old  story  exemplified — 
we  had  the  elephant  and  it  troubled  us  'to  know  what  to  do 
with  that  elephant,  and  again  we  had  to  put  our  wits  together 
and  we  concluded  to  kill  the  elephant.  (Laughter.)  "We  did 
not  like  to  do  it.  I  come  now  to  a  piece  of  military  history 
which  has  been  more  discussed  than  any  other.  ( I  contended 
at  first,  when  we  took  Vicksburg,  that  we  had  gained  a  point 
which  the  Southern  Confederacy  as  belligerents,  and  so  recog 
nized  by  ourselves  and  the  world — were  bound  to  regard — that 
when  we  took  Vicksburg,  by  all  the  rules  of  civilized  warfare, 
they  should  have  surrendered,  and  allowed  us  to  restore  Fed 
eral  power  in  the  land.  But  they  did  not/il  claim  also  that 
when  we  took  Atlanta,  that  they  were  bound  by  every  rule  of 
civilized  warfare  to  surrender  their  cause.  It  wras  then  hope 
less,  and  it  was  clear  to  me  as  daylight  that  they  wrere  bound  to 
surrender  and  return  to  civil  life.  But  they  continued  the  war. 
and  then  I  had  a  right,  under  the  rules  of  civilized  warfare,  to 
commence  a  system  that  would  make  them  feel  the  power  of 
the  Government,  and  cause  them  to  succumb  to  our  national 
authority.  (Cheers.)  I  have  again  and  again  proffered  kind 
ness  towards  the  people  of  the  South,  and  I  have  manifested 
it  on  thousands  of  occasions.  I  lived  among  them  and  re 
ceived  generous  hospitality ;  but  at  the  same  time,  if  their 
minds  are  not  balanced  so  as  to  reason  aright,  we  have  the 
right  to  apply  the  rod.  (Cheers.)  So  we  destroyed  Atlanta, 
and  all  that  could  be  used  against  us  there  will  have  to  be  re 
built.  The  question  then  arose  in  my  mind,  how  to  apply  the 
power  thus  entrusted  by  my  Government  so  as  to  produce  the 
result— the  end  of  the  war — which  was  all  we  desired:  for  war 
is  only  justifiable  among  civilized  nations  to  produce  peace. 
There  is  no  other  legitimate  rule — except  to  produce  pea«e. 
That  is  the  object  of  war,  and  it  is  so  universally  acknowl 
edged.  Therefore,  I  had  to  go  through  Georgia,  and  let  them 
see  what  war  meant.  I  had  the  right  to  destroy  their  com 
munications,  which  I.  did.  I  made  them  feel  the  consequences 
of  their  war,  so  they  will  never  again  invite  an  invading  army. 
Savannah  fell  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  once  in  our  power, 
the  question  again  arose,  "what  next?"  All  asked,  ""What 
next?"  I  never  received  any  orders  from  anybody.  I  had 
nothing  to  look  to  but  my  own  brain.  I  asked  advice  again  and 
again  but  I  got  mighty  little,  T  can  tell  you,  except  from  Grant 
who  is  always  generous  and  fair.  (Cheers.)  No  advice,  no 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  1S1 

word  at  Savannah,  save  Mr.  Lincoln's,  "what  next?"  T 
told  him  I  would  tell  him  after  awhile. 

Then  came  that  last  movement  which  I  do  contend  involved 
more  labor  and  more  risk  than  anything  else  which  I  have 
done,  or  ever  expect  to  do  again.  I  could  take  Charleston  with 
out  going  there.  First,  by  segregating  it  from  the  rest  of  the 
country  so  that  it  could  not  live.  Man  must  have  something 
to  live  upon.  He  must  go  where  there  is  something  to  eat. 
Therefore,  I  concluded  to  break  up  the  railroad,  so  the  peo 
ple  had  to  get  out  of  Charleston  or  perish.  Then  the  next 
thing  was  to  place  the  army  in  Columbia,  which  I  tell  you  is 
more  of  a  place  in  the  South  than  you  are  aware  of.  Years 
ago  I  thought  Columbia  would  be  the  scene  of  the  great  and 
final  struggle  of  the  war.  T  thought  our  western  army  would 
go  eastward  and  our  eastern  army  southward  to  Columbia,  and 
that  we  would  fight  it  out  there.  The  people  there  regarded 
it  as  a  place  of  security.  They  sent  their  treasures  there  and 
their  wines  and  liquors,  which,  my  friend  Blair  remembers  so 
well.  (Laughter  and  cheers.)  But  if  you  place  an  army  where 
the  enemy  say  you  cannot,  you  gain  an  object.  All  military 
readers  will  understand  the  principle.  And  therefore,  when 
I  could  place  my  army  in  Columbia,  I  fought  a  battle — reaped 
the  fruits  of  a  victory — bloodless,  but  still  produced  military 
results.  The  next  question  was  to  place  my  army  still  further, 
where  I  would  be  in  communication  with  the  old  Army  of  the 
Potomac — where  we  could  destroy  the  life  of  the  Confederate 
armies — for  it  seemed  at  one  time  as  though  they  were  deter- 
mind  to  fight  to  the  "last  ditch." 

So  we  went  to  Goldsboro,  and  then  I  hastened  to  see  Grant, 
and  Mr.  Lincoln,  for  the  last  time.  We  talked  the  matter 
over,  and  agreed  perfectly.  Grant  was  moving  then.  I  had 
been  fifty  odd  days  marching  on  light  rations.  My  men  were 
shoeless  and  without  pants,  and  needed  clothing  and  rest.  I 
hurried  back  to  Goldsboro  and  dispatched  everything  with  as 
great  rapidity  as  I  could,  and  on  the  very  day  T  appointed,  I 
started  in  pursuit  of  Johnston,  let  him  be  where  he  might. 
Understand  now,  that  in  this  vast  campaign  we  had  no  objec 
tive  point  on  the  map,  all  we  had  to  do  was  to  pursue  the  Con 
federate  armies  wherever  they  might  go  and  destroy  them 
wherever  we  could  catch  them.  The  great  difficulty  was  to 
bring  them  to  bay.  You  can  chase  and  chase  a  hare  until  the 
end  of  time,  but  unless  you  bring  him  to  bay  you  can't  catch 
him.  Grant  was  enabled  to  bring  Lee  to  bay  by  means  of 
Sheridan's  Cavalry.  I  did  not  have  sufficient  cavalry;  if  I 
had,  I  might  have  brought  Johnston  to  bay ;  but  with  my  then 
force  I  could  not,  because  my  cavalry  was  inferior  to  his  num 
bers.  Therefore,  when  Lee  surrendered,  Johnston  saw.  as 


182  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

clearly  as  I  had  seen  for  months  before,  that  his  cause  was 
gone. 

I  had  been  thinking  of  it  for  months;  therefore,  when  he 
met  me  and  announced  the  fact  that  he  was  "gone  up,"  I  was 
prepared  to  receive  it.  (Laughter.)  It  was  exactly  like  a  fa 
miliar  song.  It  seemed  to  the  North  a  new  thing.  We  had 
expected  it,  and  when  they  gave  up,  we  supposed  there  was 
an  end  of  it.  "How  did  they  give  up?"  was  the  question. 
"Gave  up.  That  was  all.  No  use  fighting  any  longer."  "On 
what  terms  did  they  give  up?"  "On  the  same  terms  that  Lee 
gave  up."  I  have  described  sufficiently  clear  in  my  official 
reports  all  the  conversation  that  took  place,  and  all  I  will  say 
is  that  the  North  seemed  to  be  taken  unawares,  although  every 
newspaper  in  the  land  and  every  county  court  orator  had 
preached  about  peace  for  the  last  four  years,  yet  when  it  came 
they  did  not  recognize  it.  All  I  claim  is,  that  I  was  prepared 
for  it  from  the  start.  The  moment  Johnston  spoke  to  me  I 
saw  peace  at  once,  and  I  was  honest  enough  to  say  so,  but  the 
world  was  startled  by  it. 

"Sherman  had  turned  traitor,  and  Jeff  Davis  had  bought 
him  up  with  Confederate  gold. ' '  I  rather  think  he  would  have 
found  it  a  pretty  hard  job  to  have  bought  me  up.  (Cheers.) 
Poor  Davis.  I  know  he  never  had  enough  gold  to  buy  me.  al 
though  I  won't  mention  my  price.  (Laughter  and  cheers.) 
But  all  that  is  now  past,  and  I  am  satisfied  in  my  heart  that 
we  have  peace.  I  am  satisfied  by  the  combined  armies  and 
navies,  and  the  citizens  of  the  North,  and  many  of  the  South. 
that  now  we  have  peace  in  the  land,  and  what  is  the  conse 
quence?  It  is  simply  one  stage  in  our  history.  We  have 
had  wars  heretofore.  Did  we  cut  the  throats  of  our  enemies? 
Certainly  not;  like  sensible  men,  when  the  wrar  was  over,  we 
went  to  work  to  recover  what  we  had  lost  by  the  war,  and 
entered  on  a  new  stage.  Now,  if  any  man  will  show  me  how 
Arkansas  may  be  improved,  and  Louisiana  and  Georgia,  I  will 
sit  down  and  discuss  it  with  great  fairness.  And  any  improve 
ment  in  Georgia,  in  the  cultivation  of  her  rice  fields,  or  other 
branches  of  industry  will  bring  in  more  revenue.  As  a  part 
of  the  United  States  she  w^ill  assist  in  paying-  our  debt.  It 
will  add  to  the  wealth  of  the  nation ;  and  therefore,  anything 
that  improves  Georgia  will  improve  the  United  States  of  Amer 
ica.  If  a  man  commits  a  crime,  it  is  necessary  he  should  be 
turned  over  to  the  sheriff  and  the  court.  There  they  are.  But 
so  far  as  the  future  is  concerned,  manifestly  our  duty  should 
be  to  put  every  man,  woman  and  child  capable  of  earning  a 
living,  or  of  taking  any  part  in  the  body  politic,  to  work  again 
where  they  may  earn  an  honest  living  and  contribute  to  the 
National  wealth.  Anything  looking  to  that  end,  I  certainly 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  183 

think  every  American  citizen  can  well  do,  without  being  con 
sidered  as  conniving  at  crime,  for  I  say  criminals  can  never 
be  pardoned  by  military  men.  Murder  is  murder  and  will  be 
till  the  end  of  time;  arson  the  same,  thieving  the  same.  We 
cannot  deal  with  these ;  we  simply  deal  with  men  in  arms 
that  defy  the  civil  authority;  when  they  cease  to  do  this,  our 
task  is  done,  and  we  retire  whence  we  came.  That  is  the  law 
of  England,  France  and  Austria,  and  our  own  country,  ever 
since  we  had  one,  and  will  be  till  the  end  of  time.  As  to  the 
usurpations  of  the  civil  power  by  the  military,  there  may  be 
at  times  cases  occur  in  the  history  of  wars  when  the  passions 
and  feelings  of  man  may  be  aroused  so  as  to  over-ride  civil 
authority,  but  in  time  of  peace  it  is  impossible  that  any  Amer 
ican  soldier,  any  American  officer,  any  educated  officer,  should 
wish  to  over-ride  the  civil  power ;  we  just  exercise  the  military 
power.  We  look  upon  the  civil  power  as  something  below  us. 
We  do  not  wish  to  detract  from  its  merits.  On  the  contrary, 
quite  the  reverse.  But  it  is  a  different  sphere  of  action — one 
in  which  we  take  more  pleasure — and  certainly  I  do  not  wish  to 
over-ride  the  sheriffs  and  common  courts.  Therefore,  my 
friends,  now  that  the  war  is  over,  let  us  all  go  to  work  and  do 
what  seems  most  honest  and  just  to  restore  our  country  to  its 
former  prosperity —TO  ITS  PHYSICAL  PROSPERITY.  As 
to  its  political  prosperity,  I  know  nothing  of  it,  and  care  far 
less  about  it.  (Prolonged  cheering.) 

During  the  year  1865  and  the  spring  of  1866  it  fell  to  my 
lot  to  make  the  Indian  campaign  over  the  plains,  and  to  kill 
a  few  Indians,  and  among  them  a  few  squaws  and  children — 
when  there  was  a  general  outcry  raised  all  over  the  United 
States,  and  through  the  peace  commissioners  the  whole  In 
dian  policy  was  changed  from  war  to  treaties  of  peace ;  and, 
being  desirous  of  retiring  from  the  army,  Sherman  knowing 
all  my  plans,  I  wrote  him  in  April,  1866,  a  personal  letter  ask 
ing  for  leave  of  absence,  my  resignation  not  having  been  ac 
cepted.  I  have  no  copy  of  my  letter  to  him,  but  he  under 
stood  the  matter  fully,  for  we  had  discussed  it  together,  and 
in  answer  to  that  letter  I  received  the  following  : 

Headquarters.  Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi. 
Major-General  Dodge. 

Dear   General : — I   have   your   letter   of  April   27th,   and  I 
readily  consent  to  what  you  ask.    I  think  General  Pope  should 


184  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  or  SHERMAN. 

be  at  Leavenworth  before  you  leave,  and  I  expected  he  would 
be  at  Leavenworth  by  May  1st,  but  he  is  not  yet  come.  As 
soon  as  he  reaches  Leavenworth  or  St.  Louis  even,  I  consent 
to  your  going  to  Omaha  to  begin  what,  I  trust,  will  be  the 
real  beginning  of  the  great  road.  I  start  tomorrow  for  Riley, 
whence  I  will  cross  over  to  Kearney  by  land,  and  thence  come 
in  to  Omaha,  where  I  hope  to  meet  you.  I  will  send  your  let 
ter  this  morning  to  Pope's  office  and  endorse  my  request  that 
a  telegraph  message  be  sent  to  General  Pope  to  the  effect  that 
he  is  wanted  at  Leavenworth.  Hoping  to  meet  you  soon,  I  am, 

Truly, 

W.  T.  SHERMAN,  M.  G. 

On  receipt  of  this  letter  I  proceeded  to  Omaha,  Nebraska, 
and  on  May  6th,  1866,  took  charge  of  the  survey  and  construc 
tion  of  the  Union  Pacific  railroad. 

General  Sherman  in  his  Memoirs  states  that  in  the  year 
1849  he  was  sent  by  General  Smith  up  to  Sacramento  City  to 
instruct  Lieutenants  Warner  and  Williamson,  of  the  Engineers, 
to  push  their  surveys  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  mountains,  for  the 
purpose  of  ascertaining  the  possibility  of  passing  that  range  by 
railroad,  a  subject  that  then  elicited  universal  interest.  It  was 
generally  assumed  that  such  a  road  could  not  be  made  along 
any  of  the  immigrant  roads  then  in  use,  and  Warner's  orders 
were  to  look  further  north — up  the  Feather  River,  or  some 
of  its  tributaries.  Warner  was  engaged  in  this  survey  dur 
ing  the  summer  and  fall  of  1849,  and  had  explored  to  the 
very  end  of  Goose  Lake,  the  source  of  Feather  River,  when  this 
officer's  career  was  terminated  by  death  in  battle  with  the 
Indians.  General  Sherman  was  too  modest  to  add,  as  was 
the  fact,  that  those  instructions  were  sent  at  his  own  sug 
gestion:  that  that  was  the  first  exploring  party  ever  sent  into 
the  field  for  the  special  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  feasibility 
of  constructing  a  railway  on  a  portion  of  the  line  of  the  trans 
continental  routes,  and  that  they  preceded  by  at  least  four 
years  the  act  of  Congress  making  appropriations  "for  ex 
plorations  and  surveys  for  a  railroad  route  from  the  Missis 
sippi  River  to  the  Pacific  Ocean." 


PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIONS  OP  SHERMAN.  185 

On  January  6,  1859,  General  Sherman  addressed  a  letter 
to  Hon.  John  Sherman,  M.  C.,  and  made  public  through  the 
"National  Intelligence."  It  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
and  instructive  short  papers  to  be  found  in  the  literature  of 
trans-continental  railway  construction.  He  2;ave  many 
weighty  reasons  why  a  railway  to  the  Pacific  should  be  built, 
but  thought  it  could  not  be  done  unless  done  by  the  nation. 
"It  is  a  work  of  giants,"  he  sententiously  declares,  "and 
Uncle  Sam  is  the  only  giant  I  know  who  can  grapple  the  sub 
ject."  That  paper  alone,  in  the  light  of  later  events,  would 
stamp  its  author  as  a  far-seeing  statesman  and  an  ci)]io-ht<Mi« >.l 
engineer.  He  said : 

It  so  happens  that  for  the  past  ten  years  the  Sierra  Ne 
vada  has  been  crossed  at  every  possible  point  by  miners  in 
search  of  gold,  by  emigrants  going  and  coming,  and  by  skilful 
and  scientific  men.  I,  myself,  have  been  along  a  great  part  of 
that  range,  and  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  there  are  no 
passes  by  which  a  railway,  to  be  traveled  by  the  most  power 
ful  locomotion  now  in  use,  can  be  carried  through  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  unless  at  the  extreme  head  of  the  Sacramento,  near 
the  town  of  Shasta  or  Fort  Reading,  or  at  the  extreme  head  of 
the  San  Joaquin,  near  the  Tajon. 

And  now  I  wish  to  say  that  if  there  are  any  t\vo  men  in 
the  United  States  who  were  entitled  to  the  credit  of  enabling 
us  to  construct  the  Union  Pacific  railway,  outside  of  those  who 
put  their  money  in  it,  and  made  it  a  success,  those  two  men 
were  Generals  V.  S.  Grant  and  W.  T.  Sherman.  I  undertake 
to  say  that  had  it  not  been  for  the  personal,  active  and  always 
liberal  co-operation  of  the  armies  under  their  direction,  the 
people  who  built  that  road  and  faced  its  difficulties  would  have 
somewhere  been  stopped. 

During  all  the  time  of  construction  of  the  Union  Pacific, 
either  Grant  or  Sherman  gave  orders  that  anything  General 
Dodge  asked  for  should  be  given  to  him,  "because  ho  knows 
under  the  regulations  what  he  is  entitled  to."  T  made  some 
requests  upon  the  military  commanders  that  were  unusual, 


186  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

and  I  said  to  the  commanders:    "I  want  you  to  obey  this,  and 
I  will  protect  you." 

"When  the  official  reports  of  what  had  been  done  reached 
Sherman,  he  wrote  me  a  kindly  letter,  but  he  said  to  me : 

Don't  forget  not  only  what  your  duties  are  to  the  Union 
Pacific,  but  also  what  your  conscience  tells  you  is  right  towards 
the  United  .  States  in  such  circumstances,  and  what  we  can 
approve. 

Of  course,  it  wTas  a  nice,  quiet,  gentle  reminder  that  they 
trusted  me,  and  I  had  gone  a  little  beyond  what  they  consid 
ered  was  fair  to  their  trust. 

General  Sherman  came  up  to  look  at  the  first  section  of 
the  road  examined  after  I  took  charge  of  the  line.  If  you  go 
back  and  read  the  records  you  will  see  he  was  present.  Major 
Bent,  a  gentleman  who  was  at  one  time  at  the  head  of  one  of 
the  greatest  industries  in  this  country,  was  assigned  to  the 
duty  of  taking  care  of  the  people  who  examined  the  road. 
General  Sherman  said  to  him:  "Every  time  they  build  a  sec 
tion  here  I  will  be  on  hand  to  look  at  it,  and  see  that  it  is 
properly  built." 

Bent  wagered  with  General  Sherman  a  basket  of  cham 
pagne  that  he  would  not  do  it.  Sherman's  headquarters  were 
in  St.  Louis,  and  we  were  building  and  examining  about  thirty 
miles  of  road  a  month.  This  would  have  brought  him  up  to 
examine  the  road  about  once  every  month,  and  after  we  built 
about  one  hundred  miles  of  road  he  wrote  me  and  said:  "I 
am  not  going  to  come  up  there  any  longer;  I  am  ready  to  pay 
my  bet," 

One  evening  at  the  Union  League  Club,  only  a  short  time 
before  he  died,  he  said  to  me :  "I  wish,  Dodge,  that  you  would 
get  Bent  down  to  New  York  and  T  will  pay  that  basket  of 
champagne  that  I  owe  him." 

As  the  road  progressed,  there  was  hardly  a  mile  of  it  that 
was  not  built  under  the  protection  of  the  United  States  forces. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  187 

Every  engineer  that  made  its  surveys  had  to  be  protected 
against  the  Indians.  The  men,  when  they  started  to  work  in 
the  morning,  stacked  their  muskets  by  their  work,  read}7  to 
fall  in  at  any  moment  in  case  they  were  attacked  by  Indians, 
and  I  have  often  known  them  to  fall  in  and  defend  their 
camp. 

Every  year  while  we  were  building  this  road  Sherman  went 
over  it,  and  I  reported  to  him  just  as  regularly  as  I  did  to  my 
superior  officers,  telling  him  what  I  wTas  doing  and  asking  ad 
vice.  He  saw  through  the  papers  that  there  was  a  question 
between  myself  as  chief  engineer  and  Mr.  T.  C.  Durant,  the 
chief  contractor,  as  to  the  lines,  and  that  Mr.  Durant  had 
declared  against  the  lines  that  the  engineers  of  the  road  had 
said  were  the  true  lines  in  a  commercial  and  engineering  point 
of  view,  and  that  if  the  lines  were  not  sustained  I  would  have 
to  resign. 

I  was  in  Utah  at  the  time,  and  I  received  a  dispatch  from 
Durant,  dated  at  Laramie,  to  return  there  immediately  to  meet 
Generals  Grant  and  Sherman.  I  immediately  took  the  stage 
and  started  for  Laramie.  When  Durant  received  my  abso 
lute  refusal  to  accept  the  lines  they  had  adopted,  he  wired  to 
Sherman,  and  Sherman  to  Grant,  and  both  came  to  Laramie, 
thousands  of  miles,  showing  their  interest  in  the  subject.  They 
protested  against  Durant 's  action,  and  when  I  stepped  off  the 
stage  Durant  said  to  me:  "General,  I  want  you  to  withdraw 
your  dispatch;  the  lines  you  want  you  may  have.  I  am  con 
vinced  that  you  are  right." 

There  I  met  Grant  and  Sherman,  and  went,  over  with  them 
the  whole  possibilities  of  the  Union  Pacific  line,  and  told  them, 
in  my  opinion,  that  during  the  year  1869,  with  no  untoward 
events,  we  would  have  the  connection.  They  discussed  its 
probabilities,  and  said  then  and  there  to  me:  "If  that  is  your 
plan.  General,  whatever  you  want  you  may  have." 


188 PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

And  they  so  instructed  the  commander  of  that  department, 
and  what  I  asked  for  I  received. 

General  Grant  and  General  Sherman  took  very  strong 
grounds  with  Durant  and  Dillon,  telling  them  frankly  that  the 
Government  would  not  stand  for  any  change  in  my  lines,  and 
that  they  should  insist  upon  my  remaining  upon  the  road.  I 
had  stated  frankly  to  General  Grant  and  General  Sherman,  to 
Dillon  and  Durant,  that  I  would  not  submit  to  such  inter 
ference  as  had  been  made :  that  it  was  not  for  the  benefit  of 
the  road,  but  simply  for  the  purpose  of  driving  me  off  the  road. 
They  knew  they  could  not  have  their  way  while  I  was  on  the 
road,  and  watched  my  every  movement.  It  resulted  in  Durant 
and  Dillon  withdrawing  all  orders  for  change  of  location,  and 
Generals  Grant  and  Sherman  exacted  an  agreement  from  me 
that  I  would  not  resign,  but  stay  Avith  the  road  until  it  was 
finished. 

This  meeting  of  the  largest  number  of  distinguished  officers 
that  had  met  since  the  Civil  War,  was  a  very  noted  event.  Tho 
officers  present  were:  General  F.  S.  Grant,  Lieutenant-Gen 
eral  W.  T.  Sherman,  Major-General  Phillip  Sheridan,  Major- 
General  W.  C.  Harney,  Major-General  John  G.  Gibbon,  Major- 
General  Grenville  M.  Dodge  (chief  engineer  F.  P.  R.  R.),  Bri 
gadier-General  F.  Dent,  Brigadier-General  Adam  Slemmer, 
Brigadier-General  Joseph  C.  Potter,  Brigadier-General  Louis 
C.  Hunt,  Brigadier-General  August  Kautz.  A  local  photogra 
pher  took  a  picture  of  the  groups  which  included  T.  C.  Durant, 
vice  president  Union  Pacific  railroad,  Sidney  Dillon,  Mrs.  Gib 
bon  and  Mrs.  Potter,  and  three  local  officers  of  the  Post,  also 
U.  S.  Grant.  Jr.,  son  of  General  Grant. 

I  forgot  all  about  this  picture  until  in  1892,  when  on  a  trip 
to  Oregon,  looking  over  the  Fnion  Pacific  interests,  I  visited 
General  Gibbon  at  Ft.  Vancouver  and  he  showed  me  a  small 
copy  of  it.  This  I  obtained  from  him  and  had  it  enlarged,  and 
it  has  been  sought  for  by  a  great  many  persons.  It  was  util- 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  189 

ized  by  the  Union  Pacific  Railway,  who  had  an  immense  num 
ber  of  copies  made  for  an  advertisement.  There  is  a  copy  of 
it  in  my  book,  "How  We  Built  the  Union  Pacific  Railway." 
In  later  years  the  photograph  has  been  sought  by  many  li 
braries,  museums,  and  by  many  officers  of  the  army. 

Generals  Sherman,  Harney,  Kautz,  Slemmer  and  Hunt  were 
going  as  a  peace  commission  to  treat  with  the  Sioux.  General 
Sherman  wanted  to  know  my  reasons  for  not  making  an  agre^ 
ment  with  the  Sioux  in  1866,  allowing  them  to  come  down  to 
the  North  Fork  of  the  Platte.  I  told  him  that  my  troops,  in 
the  expedition  to  Powder  River  in  1865,  had  discovered  gold 
through  the  Black  Hills,  through  the  hunting  grounds  of  the 
Ogalalla  and  Brule  Sioux,  and  that  I  knew  as  soon  as  I  made 
a  treaty  with  the  Indians  that  Chaffee  in  Colorado  and  Fair 
and  others  in  California  were  preparing  to  send  men  in  there. 
I  had  with  me  in  that  campaign,  part  of  a  Colorado  regiment 
and  part  of  the  California  regiment,  many  of  them  expert  min 
ers,  and  they  panned  every  stream  we  crossed  and  had  dis 
covered  gold.  They  were  afraid  to  go  in  there  because  my 
agreement  with  the  Indians  in  1866  was  that  it  would  be  im 
possible  for  me  to  keep  the  whites  out  of  there,  and  therefore, 
I  would  not  sign  any  treaty  of  peace  which  would  bring  them 
down  to  the  North  Platte.  My  idea  was  to  hold  them  north  of 
the  Belle  Fourche  Fork  of  the  Cheyenne,  and  if  they  behaved 
themselves,  I  would  endeavor  to  keep  the  miners  from  going 
into  that  country;  if  they  went  in  violation  of  my  orders,  I 
gave  the  Indians  permission  to  keep  them  out,  and  this,  I 
kno\v,  kept  the  miners  out  of  that  country.  The  Indians  were 
not  willing  to  give  up  this  ground  under  any  circumstances, 
as  it  was  their  best  hunting  ground.  General  Sherman  and  his 
commission,  under  the  orders  of  the  President,  made  the  agree 
ment  with  them  to  come  to  the  North  Fork  of  the  Platte,  tak 
ing  in  all  the  Black  Hills  north  of  Ft.  Laramie.  This  treaty 
had  hardly  been  ratified  when  the  Colorado  and  California 


190  PERSONAL  BECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

miners  poured  in  there  and  discovered  the  Homestake  mine, 
which  has  been  a  great  producer.  The  Government  made  no 
effort  to  keep  the  Indians  out  of  this  country  and  carry  out 
the  terms  of  their  treaty.  Sitting  Bull,  who  was  the  chief  of 
the  tribe  of  Indians  who  occupied  these  hills,  made  protest  to 
the  Government,  demanding  that  they  should  have  their  treaty 
carried  out;  but  the  Government  paid  no  attention  to  it;  then 
Sitting  Bull  took  the  matter  into  his  own  hands,  which  brought 
on  the  war  between  the  Indians  and  the  Government  in  1876, 
in  which  occurred  the  Custer  massacre.  The  Indians  are  not 
to  blame  for  this,  for  they  were  only  maintaining  their  rights, 
and  it  was  the  fault  of  the  Government  in  agreeing  to  the 
treaty  and  then  not  living  up  to  it.  There  is  no  escaping  this 
fact,  and  Custer  and  his  regiment  were  sacrificed  because  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  did  not  live  up  to  its  agree 
ment  and  do  its  duty  towards  these  Indians. 

On  July  29th,  1868,  I  arrived  at  Omaha  and  took  General 
Grant,  Sherman  and  Sheridan  to  my  residence  in  Council 
Bluffs.  As  General  Grant  had  been  nominated  for  the  Presi 
dency,  and  no  doubt  would  be  elected,  I  took  great  pains  on 
this  trip  to  post  him  thoroughly  about  everything  connected 
with  the  Union  Pacific  railway,  and  especially  as  to  the  inter 
ference  that  there  had  been  west  of  the  Missouri  since  we  com- 
menced  building  it.  General  Sherman,  who  had  been  watch 
ing  this  also,  took  an  active  part  in  the  conversation.  They 
were  greatly  interested  in  having  the  road  completed,  and  my 
assurances  of  our  completing  the  road  within  a  year  from 
the  time  we  commenced  work,  April  1st,  which  would  probably 
take  us  into  May,  seemed  to  greatly  impress  them.  General 
Sherman  said  it  was  too  big  a  job,  he  thought,  for  us  to  com 
plete  in  the  time  I  said,  but  as  I  had  made  good  every  state 
ment  I  had  made  so  far,  he  would  give  up  his  judgment  for 
mine.  While  General  Grant  seemed  to  have  full  faith  that  we 
would  be  able  to  do  it,  he  assured  me  that  as  far  as  he  was  con- 


PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 191 

cerned,  we  would  have  his  support,  and  on  his  return  to  Wash 
ington  he  would  make  known  to  the  Government  the  condi 
tions  as  he  found  them.  I  opened  up  with  the  question,  that 
was  then  being  started,  about  the  Central  Pacific  overlapping 
the  lines — they  claimed  to  build  to  Echo  and  we  to  Humboldt 
Wells,  so  that  he  was  fully  posted  in  this  matter.  I  showed 
him  that  the  Central  Pacific  was  trying  to  enforce  the  location 
of  their  lines  over  a  road  which  we  had  graded,  and  which 
would  have  a  track  upon  it  long  before  they  could  reach 
Ogden.  General  Sherman  wrote  me  often  during  the  construc 
tion,  showing  his  grasp  of  the  whole  problem.  The  following 
is  his  first  letter : 

•  St.  Louis,  Jan.  5,  1867. 

My  Dear  General  Dodge :  At  New  Orleans  I  received  your 
welcome  letter  from  New  York,  and  I  assure  you,  on  its  faith, 
I  boasted  not  a  little  of  the  vast  energy  of  our  countrymen ; 
303  miles  of  railroad  finished  in  one  year  is  a  feat  that  may 
well  be  boasted  of.  I  assure  you  of  my  hearty  congratula 
tions,  and  that  greater  problem  of  the  railroad  seems  to  be 
solving  itself  very  fast. 

You  are  exactly  right  in  making  your  location  independ 
ent  of  local  influence.  When  I  was  at  Denver  and  saw  the 
lay  of  the  land,  I  felt  certain  that  you  would  locate  north  of 
that  city,  and  said  so,  incidentally,  but  some  fellow  got  hold 
of  it  and  pitched  into  me.  As  it  was  none  of  my  business,  I 
held  my  tongue  and  counsel,  but  still  it  is  not  enough  to  de 
flect  from  its  course  the  Great  National  Highway.  I  also  learn 
with  pleasure  that  your  eastern  connection  is  done  within 
twenty-two*  miles,  and  I  have  ordered  all  troops  and  stores  for 
the  Department  of  the  Platte  to  go  via  Chicago,  Clinton  and 
Omaha. 

The  loss  of  Col.  Fetterman's  command  up  at  Phil  Kear 
ney  may  disturb  your  people;  but  don't  let  it,  for  we  shall 
persevere  and  push  that  road  to  Virginia  City,  and  it  will 
divert  the  attention  of  the  hostile  Sioux  from  your  road.  The 
point  where  you  cross  the  North  Platte  and  Fort  Laramie  will 
become  great  military  points,  and  you  should  make  arrange 
ments  for  cars  to  land  our  troops  and  stores  there.  I  take 
it  for  granted  that  you  get  along  well  with  Cooke,  and  his 
quartermaster,  Myers. 

I  would  like  to  know  how  far  this  side  of  old  Camp  Wahl- 
bach  you  propose  to  leave  the  Lodge  Pole.  It  looks  to  me  as 


192  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

if  you  could  take  the  divide  some  ten  miles  this  side,  and  get 
up  some  700  or  800  feet  before  you  reach  the  Black  Hills.  I 
remember  well  the  difficulty  in  California.  Our  first  locations 
clung"  to  the  valleys  for  some  thirty  miles  out  of  Sacramento, 
and  then  it  was  too  late  to  rise  to  the  mountains.  Whereas, 
now,  the  road  begins  to  rise  at  once  on  leaving  Sacramento,  so 
that  they  get  up  near  two  thousand  feet  before  they  strike  the 
mountains.  I  suppose  your  location  descends  into  the  Laramie 
plains  not  far  from  Willow  Springs  Station,  twelve  miles 
southeast  of  the  new  Fort  Stevens  (John  Buford). 

The  coming  year,  for  better  or  worse,  is  to  be  an  important 
one  to  our  country,  and  if  you  could,  by  superhuman  effort, 
reach  the  foot  of  the  mountains  near  Wahlbach,  it  would  be  a 
great  achievement.  That  will  be  the  military  point  for  the 
road.  North  and  south  from  that  point  the  roads  are  good  by 
reason  of  the  nearness  of  the  wood,  the  abundant  grass  and 
w^ater,  and  valleys  that  afford  good  roadways  for  traveling.  I 
will  do  my  utmost  that  General  Cooke  will  have  force  enough 
to  cover  your  parties  absolutely,  which  will  be  easy  from  the 
forks  of  the  Platte  westward. 

I  came  up  from  New  Orleans  by  rail,  saw  our  old  stamping- 
grounds,  Jackson,  Miss. ;  Canton,  Grenada,  Grand  Junction 
and  Jackson,  Tenn.  I  feared  somebody  would  offend  me,  but 
such  was  not  the  case.  I  saw  any  quantity  of  old  rebels  who 
were  as  polite  as  possible. 

Wishing  the  great  enterprise  as  much  success  in  1867  as  in 
1866,  I  am,  as  ever,  your  friend, 

W.  T.  SHERMAN. 

On  January  14th,  1867,  I  wrote  this  letter  to  General  Sher 
man,  giving  my  plans  for  that  year's  construction: 

Council  Bluffs,  Jan.  14th,  1867. 
Lieut.  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman. 

Dear  General :  Yours  of  the  5th  inst.  came  duly  to  hand.  I 
enclose  a  rough  map  of  located  line  from  North  Platte  City : 
crossing  of  North  Platte  River  to  Ft.  Sanders ;  crossing  of  Lar 
amie  River,  for  your  information.  It  will  give  you  the  line 
better  than  I  could  describe  it. 

We  run  up  Lodge  Pole  Creek  105  miles,  leaving  it  55 
miles  east  of  Camp  Wahlbach  and  not  far  from  where  the  mid 
dle  fork  Laramie  and  Denver  wagon  road  crosses  that  stream. 
You  put  last  year  a  lot  of  friendly  Indians  in  camp  on  this 
road,  near  the  crossing  of  Horse  Creek.  From  point  where 
we  leave  Lodge  Pole  it  is  31  miles  almost  due  west  to  the  R.  R. 
crossing  of  Crow  Creek,  and  we  gain  some  700  feet  elevation 


PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIQNS  OF  SHERMAN. 193 

in  this  distance.  At  Crow  Creek  Crossing  we  commence  as 
cending  the  mountains,  and  we  consider  this  point  the  eastern 
base  of  the  ''Rocky  Mountains."  It  is  on  a  meridian  nearly 
20  miles  east  of  Camp  Wahlbach,  or  LaPorte,  hence  the  ad 
vantage.  From  Crow  Creek  Crossing  to  Ft.  Sanders  is  59 
miles.  We  get  into  Laramie  Plains  in  sight  of  "Willow  Spring 
Stage  Station. 

I  note  what  you  say  about  military  points.  At  North 
Platte  City  is  the  end  of  our  first  300-mile  division.  We  shall 
put  up  extensive  warehouses,  round-houses,  20  stalls,  machine 
shops,  and  have  already  built  a  large  hotel  to  accommodate 
travel,  etc.,  and  the  place  is  rapidly  building  up.  I  anticipate 
no  difficulty  in  accommodating  here  all  troops  or  business  that 
the  Government  may  send  over  to  us.  North  Platte  is  also  the 
base  from  which  contractors  operate  next  season.  The  rail 
road  from  Omaha  to  that  point  goes  into  the  hands  of  company 
proper  January  1st,  to  be  operated  by  them.  We  are  piling 
up  there  large  quantities  of  ties,  iron  and  all  material  for  this 
year's  work.  In  May  we  mean  to  be  at  Sedgwick,  80  miles 
from  the  end  of  the  track,  40  miles  of  which  is  graded,  when 
'we  can  land  your  troops  and  stores  if  desired  by  1st  of  Sep 
tember  at  Crow  Creek  Crossing,  and  in  December  at  Ft. 
Sanders. 

Either  at  point  where  we  leave  Lodge  Pole  or  at  Crow 
Creek  Crossing  will  be  the  end  of  our  next  division,  and  where 
we  shall  change  machinery  for  mountain  runs.  We  shall,  no 
doubt,  at  this  point  build  up  quite  a  place,  and  a  Denver 
branch  will  connect  at  or  near  one  of  these  points — I  am  un- 
ble  to  say  which  just  -now,  but  think  Crow  Creek  will  be  the 
place ;  from  either  point  Ft.  Laramie  can  be  reached — 60  or 
70  miles  over  an  excellent  wagon  road — either  by  road  along 
east  base  of  Black  Hills,  which  you  have  traveled,  or  by 
middle  Laramie  road,  equally  as  good,  and  I  think  better:  It 
may  be  you  will  finally  determine  to  make  your  depots  for 
Laramie  and  Fort  North  at  Fort  Sanders,  as  it  is  nearer  tim 
ber,  coal,  etc.,  than  the  east  base  of  the  mountains,  and  is  not 
so  much  farther  from  Fort  Laramie.  However,  during  the  sea 
son  you  will  find,  no  doubt,  use  for  delivery  of  goods,  troops, 
etfc.,  to  North  Platte,  then  Fort  Sedgwick,  then  40  miles  up 
Lodge  Pole,  where  first  Laramie  road  crosses  to  Mud  Springs : 
then  point  where  we  leave  Lodge  Pole,  and  then  Crow  Creek. 
By  that  time  you  can  determine  the  best  point  to  settle  down 
on.  We  are  doing  all  in  power  of  man  in  getting  out  ties,  push 
ing  forward  materials,  etc.,  so  that  we  can  accomplish  our 
plan  of  reaching  Laramie  in  1867.  If  we  do  not  have  to  con 
tend  with  financial  reverses  in  the  country,  I  predict  we  will 
reach  the  objective  point  and  more.  I  have  my  fears  for  the 


194 PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.         

future ;  financial  matters  generally  do  not  look  promising ; 
if  country  steers  clear  of  that  breaker,  we  are  all  right. 

I  wrote  you  about  General  Cooke.  We  get  along  first  rate 
with  all  the  military,  and  if  any  new  commander  comes,  I  am 
ready  and  shall  be  glad  to  give  him  all  information  or  aid  in 
my  power,  and  will  do  the  very  best  to  help  him  along  in  tak 
ing  care  of  the  Indian  troubles,  overland  routes,  etc. 

We  want  to  cover  our  work  from  Alkali  to  Laramie  Eiver 
as  soon  as  frost  leaves  the  ground,  say  in  March.  Contrac 
tors  are  already  pushing  west,  getting  ready.  I  hope  you  will 
have  troops  to  give  us  ample  protection ;  we  are  going  to  be 
short  of  labor,  and  any  lack  of  military  protection,  when  In 
dians  are  at  war,  would  render  it  almost  impossible  to  keep 
men  on  the  line.  What  we  want  is  the  laborers  to  have 
confidence.  I  believe  the  moment  you  get  into  Indian  country 
with  troops  for  campaign,  Indians  will  leave  Platte  route  the 
same  as  they  did  in  '65.  But  that  will  not  fully  relieve  me,  be 
cause  what  you  and  I  know,  is  going  to  be  hard  to  make  a  lot  of 
Irishmen  believe.  They  want  to  see  occasionally  a  soldier  to 
give  them  confidence,  and  that  is  all  we  need  to  get  labor  on  the 
line.  I  have  made  an  official  application  to  the  department 
commander  for  what  I  consider  necessary. 

General  Myers  is  an  able  Quartermaster,  understands  his 
business  and  does  it.  We  get  along  well  with  the  staff  depart 
ment  and  help  each  other.  I  said  to  you  in  my  letter  about 
General  Cooke  that  you  would  need  5,000  effective  men  north 
of  South  Platte  and  east  of  mountains.  To  make  it  plainer, 
I  think  in  Nebraska,  Colorado,  Utah,  Dakota,  Montana, 
west  of  the  Missouri  Eiver,  you  will  need  10,000,  and  I  hope 
the  Government  will  not  do  by  you  as  they  did  by  me,  get 
you  well  after  the  Indians,  just  ready  to  punish  them,  and 
then  under  the  hue  and  cry  of  wrongs,  cruelty,  etc.,  stop  you. 
If  you  get  after  them  early  with  good  officers  who  will  never 
give  up,  but  follow  them  day  and  night,  until  doom's  day  if 
necessary,  until  they  are  severely  punished  for  past  crimes, 
and  feel  our  power,  so  that  they  will  in  future  respect  us, 
is  the  way  to  settle  the  Indian  policy,  and  it  can  be  easily 
done.  I  have  always  held  this  and  I  know  Indians  look  upon 
us  with  contempt  and  with  no>  respect. 

C.  B.  &  St.  Joe  road  is  finished,  and  running  from  Council 
Bluffs,  30  miles  south.  Northwestern  Railroad  is  within  five 
miles,  will  be  at  the  Bluffs  next  week.  It  landed  your  troops 
within  eight  miles  of  Omaha. 

You  can  get  all  the  produce,  flour  and  grain,  and  perhaps 
some  groceries  needed  for  troops  and  posts  north  of  Kansas 
and  Nebraska  here  in  Western  Iowa,  and  lay  it  down  in  Coun 
cil  Bluffs  or  Omaha,  cheaper  than  you  can  right  in  St.  Louis 


PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  195 

market,  thereby  saving  time  and  transportation.  The  railroad 
south  lets  us  right  into  the  finest  part  of  Missouri  and  best 
of  Western  Iowa — the  road  opens  up  the  grain  and  produce 
market  of  Central  Iowa,  the  best  of  the  state.  It  is  hard  to 
get  the  staff  department  at  Washington  out  of  the  old  channel. 
They  don't  grasp  those  things  as  I  think  they  ought  to  do; 
hope  you  will  help  them. 

I  am  now  making  surveys  for  the  Missouri  River  bridge ; 
a  knotty  or  "sandy"  question,  but  will  solve  it.  We  want  to 
build  this  year.  May  have  to  wait  'til  after  spring  freshets 
before  we  can  do  much. 

I  keep  General  Cooke  and  his  staff  department  posted  in 
our  movements,  so  that  they  can  take  advantage  of  them  in 
their  plans ;  and  I  believe  as  I  have  answered  all  your  questions 
and  given  you  much  insight  as  to  future  plans,  it  will  enable 
you  to  take  advantage  of  it.  What  I  have  said  about  points, 
intentions,  etc.,  I  prefer  you  should  keep  private,  as  such 
things,  when  they  are  made  public,  often  annoy  or  sometimes 
damage  us ;  but  you  understand  it  all. 

Mrs.  D.  and  myself  desire  to  be  remembered  to  your  fam 
ily  ;  hope  you  will  come  to  see  us  soon  and  bring  Mrs.  S. 

I  shall  go  to  Utah  in  May  or  June  to  fix  locations  from 
Laramie  River  to  Salt  Lake.  Will  you  not  go  out  there  this 
year?  I  was  very  sorry  to  hear  of  the  death  of  Sawyer. 

I  saw  General  Grant  while  east;  says  he  will  go  to  Denver 
in  spring  or  summer. 

Was  glad  to  hear  rebs  continue  their  respect  for  you.  Do 
they  have  much  honest  respect  for  us?  And  do  they  at  heart 
care  anything  for  the  old  flag?  Will  they  not  side  with  any 
power  that  is  against,  rather  than  for  us? 

I  am  truly  and  respectfully, 
G.  M.  DODGE. 

St.  Louis,  January  16th,  1867. 

I  have  just  read  with  intense  interest  your  letter  of  the 
14th,  and  though  you  wanted  it  kept  to  myself  I  believe  you 
will  sanction  my  sending  it  to  General  Grant  for  his  individ 
ual  perusal,  to  be  returned  to  me. 

It  is  almost  a  miracle  to  grasp  your  proposition  to  finish  .to 
Fort  Sanders  this  year,  but  you  have  don'e  so  much  that  I 
mistrust  my  own  judgment  and  accept  yours. 

I  regard  this  road  of  yours  as  the  solution  of  the  Indian 
question,  and  of  the  Mormon  affairs,  and  therefore  give  you 
all  that  I  possibly  can,  but  the  demand  for  soldiers  every 
where,  and  the  slowness  of  enlistment,  especially  among  the 
blacks,  limit  our  ability  to  respond.  Naturally  each  officer 


190  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SIIERMAX. 

exaggerates  his  own  troubles,  and  appeals  for  men;  thus  Orel 
is  greatly  exercised  lest  the  blacks  and  whites  commence  a 
race  war,  and  would  have  four  or  five  regiments  scattered  over 
the  whole  state  of  Arkansas  to  prevent  local  trouble.  T  want 
to  punish  and  subdue  the  Indians,  who  are  the  enemies  of  our 
race,  and  progress,  but  even  in  that  it  is  well  so>metimes  to 
proceed  with  due  deliberation.  I  have  now  General  Terry  on 
the  Upper  Missouri,  General  Auger  with  you,  and  General 
Hancock  just  below,  all  young,  enterprising  men,  fit  for  coun 
sel  or  the  field.  I  will  endeavor  to  arrange  so  that  hereafter 
all  shall  act  on  common  principles  and  with  a  common  pur 
pose,  and  the  first  step,  of  co-urse.  is  to  arrange  for  the  ac 
cumulation  of  the  necessary  men  and  materials  at  the  ris'hf 
points,  for  which  your  railroad  is  the  very  thing. 

Auger  will  be  with  you  before  this,  and  you  will  find  him 
prepared  to  second  you  to  the  utmost  of  his  power.  I  want 
him  to  study  his  problem  and  call  on  Grant,  through  me,  for 
the  least  force  that  is  adequate,  for  we  must  respect  the  de 
mand  from  other  quarters.  Of  course,  1  am  disposed  to  find 
fault  that  our  soldiers  are  now  tied  up  in  the  southern  states. 
but  in  the  light  they  are  now  regarded,  it  would  be  impolitic 
and  imprudent  for  me  to  say  so  publicly.  All  1  can  do  is  tn 
keep  General  Grant  well  informed,  so  that  he  may  distribute 
his  army  to  the  best  advantage  of  the  whole  country. 

As  to  supplies,  General  Auger  will  be  and  is  at  liberty  to 
control  this  question  according  to  the"  state  of  facts.  The  staff 
officers  at  Omaha  are  supplied  with  funds,  and  are  on  the  spot. 
authorized  to  buy  or  call  for  supplies  from  Chicago  or  St. 
Louis.  Though  West  Iowa  might  supply  your  market  abund 
antly,  yet  if  suddenly  called  on  for  millions  of  pounds  of  flour. 
sugar,  coffee  and  bacon,  they  wrould  jump  the  price,  but  you 
know  we  have  now  quartermasters  and  commissaries  abso 
lutely  disinterested,  and  qualified  to  arrange  this  matter.  I 
will  surely  be  up  this  year  many  times,  and  will  go  over  every 
rail  more  than  once.  I  don't  want  to  go  to  Utah  until  your 
road  approaches  Bridger,  which  cannot  be  this  year,  and  I 
don't  want  Congress  to  bother  itself  about' Mormon  affairs 
until  then,  and  the  Gentiles  would  do  well  to  hold  their  ton 
gues  and  pens,  until  it  becomes  feasible  to  act  in  case  of  law 
or  threats.  It  is.  nonsense  no\v  for  us  to  send  a  large  fore*1 
there,  and  besides,  it  is  impossible,  and  would  be  to  the  in 
terests  of  the  Mormons,  by  the  prices  thejT  would  exact  of  us 
for  meat  and  bread. 

Don't  fail  to  keep  in  Avith  General  Auger,  Myers,  etc.,  who 
can  be  of  service  to  you  in  many  ways. 

W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major-General. 


PERSONAL  EECOLLKCTIONS  OF  Sn  HUMAN.  197 

General  Sherman  sent  imj  this  letter  he  received  from  Gen 
eral  Grant : 

I  have  carefully  read  the  enclosed  letter  from  General 
Dodge,  and  in  accordance  with  your  request  return  it.  Now 
that  the  Government  has  assumed  the  obligation  to  guarantee 
the  bonds  of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  it  becomes  a  matter  of  great 
pecuniary  interest  to  see  it  completed  as  soon  as  possible. 

Every  protection  practicable  should  be  given  by  the  mili 
tary,  both  to  secure  the  rapid  completion  of  the  road  and  to 
avoid  pretexts  on  the  part  of  the  builders  to  get  further  as 
sistance  from  the  Government, 

I  do  not  see  my  way  clear  now  to  furnish  you  further  rein 
forcements  beyond  one  regiment  of  infantry.  As  soon  as  one 
regiment  of  the  invalid  Corps  is  organized,  1  can  have  the 
Canada  frontier  garrisoned  by  it,  with  a  few  companies  of 
artillery,  and  send  you  the  4th  Infantry  now  on  duty  there. 

Tt  might  be  further  practicable  to  send  you  a  regiment  of 
invalids  to  occupy  such  depots  as  are  necessary  to  be  kept  up, 
and  thereby  relieve  more  active  men  for  duty  in  the  front. 
I  wrill  no-t  send  them,  however,  without  an  intimation  from  you 
that  they  can  be  made  available.  You  might  be  reinforced  to 
some  extent  by  increasing  the  standard  of  companies  to  the 
maximum  number  allowed  by  law. 

General  P.  St.  George  Cooke.  who  was  in  command  of  the 
department,  was  relieved  and  General  Auger  appointed  to 
the  command.  As  General  Cooke  had  been  very  active  in  giv 
ing  us  aid  and  escorts,  I  wrote  General  Sherman  in  relation  to 
it,  and  this  is  his  answer: 

St.  Louis,  January  22d,  1867. 

Yours  of  January  9th,  for  some  reason,  did  not  reach  me 
'til  today.  I  had  nothing  to  do  writh  Cooke 's  removal.  The 
order  originated  at  Washington  and  came  to  me  completed, 
without  my  being  consulted,  and  I  do  not  know  what  influ 
enced  General  Grant,  but  never  supposed  General  Cooke  was 
in  the  least  to  blame  for  the  Phil  Kearney  massacre.  That  post 
had  been  completed  and  garrison  increased  to  the  largest  esti 
mate  made  by  anyone  up  to  that  time,  and  I  would  have  vol 
unteered  to  General  Cooke  that  explanation,  only  the  instant 
I  sent  him  a  copy  of  the  telegram,  he  replied  that  he  presumed 
I  was  the  cause  of  his  removal,  which  debarred  me  from  mak 
ing  any  explanation. 

As  to  Auger,  I  only  knowT  him  of  his  old  army  record, 
which  was  very  good.  He  was  always  a  favorite,  and  was,  I 


198  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

think,  one  of  Grant's  comrades  of  the  4th  Infantry.  The  prob 
abilities  are  he  will  be  in  command  of  that  department  a  long 
time,  and  will  soon  master  all  the  questions,  and  be  able  him 
self,  if  necessary,  in  person  to  lead  his  troops.  You  will  lose 
nothing  by  the  change,  for  I  will  make  it  incumbent  on  the 
military  to  give  you  earnest  attention  for  the  protection  of 
your  road.  You  have  General  Hancock  on  the  south  of  you, 
and  Auger  with  you — two  of  the  best  officers,  and  they  shall 
have  every  man  that  I  can  get  and  spare.  We  are  pressed 
for  men  at  all  points.  I  fear  the  political  status  has  a  tendency 
to  make  men  of  property  of  the  south  oblivious  to  their  own  in 
terests,  for  outrages  on  negroes  and  Union  men  appear  to 
increase.  It  is  alleged  that  the  better  people  don't 
lend  their  help  to  stop  it,  as  they  say  it  is  none  of  their  busi 
ness.  If  our  army  has  to  do  all  the  dirty  police  work  of  the 
south,  you  can  see  it  will  all  be  absorbed  there,  giving  us  a 
small  share  of  the  army  for  the  real  public  enemy — the  Indian. 
But  so  far  as  interest  in  your  success  is  concerned,  you  may 
rest  easy,  that  both  Grant  and  I  feel  deeply  concerned  in  the 
safety  of  your  national  enterprise. 

On  February  20th,  1867,  General  Sherman  wrote  me  as 
follows : 

I  have  just  received  your  letter,  of  February  8th.  and  map. 
I  now  have  an  engineer  officer  with  me,  Colonel  Merrill,  the 
same,  you  will  remember,  who  went  with  Thomas  as  far  as 
Atlanta.  He  will  now  be  able  to  compile  and  make  useful  all 
maps  that  are  authentic,  and  I  will  be  obliged  for  all  and  any 
you  can  give  me. 

By  this  time  you  must  be  well  acquainted  with  General 
Auger,  and  I  hope  you  will  work  together  like  brothers. 

I  will  want  to  come  up  to  Omaha  soon,  and  would  like  to 
have  a  pass  over  the  road  from  Chicago  to  Omaha.  I  have  a 
yearly  pass  over  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  road,  but  don't 
think  that  is  the  company  that  comes  to  Omaha.  Do  you  know 
if  the  railroad  from  Keokuk  to  Des  Moines  will  join  the  Boons- 
boro  road  by  the  main  valley  or  move  to  the  west  by  the  Coon 
Line  of  the  Rock  Island  road?  All  could  save  distance  by 
making  junction  with  the  finished  Omaha  road  at  a  point  in 
Carroll  county.  I  am  satisfied  that  our  St.  Louis  and  Missouri 
people  are  alive  to  the  necessity  and  will,  within  twelve  or 
fifteen  months,  have  communication  with  Council  Bluffs,  via 
St.  Joseph  and  the  Missouri  Valley,  as  also  by  prolonging  the 
North  Missouri  railroad  to  the  Keokuk  and  Des  Moines.  Con- 
dit  Smith  is  the  contractor  on  both,  and  tells  me  he  is  making 
sure  and  good  progress. 


PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  199 

I  think  in  another  year,  by  these  railroads  and  the  exten 
sion  of  your  great  road  to  the  Black  Hills  (Sanders,  if  pos 
sible)  and  the  Smoky  Hill  to  the  neighborhood  of  Cheyenne 
Hills,  we  can  act  so  energetically  that  both  the  Sioux  and 
Cheyennes  must  die,  or  submit  to  our  dictation.  This  year 
we  are  forced  to  do  the  best  we  can,  but  hope  you  will  keep 
your  men  at  work,  in  spite  of  rumors  and  even  apparent 
dangers,  for  both  General  Auger  and  I  will  do  all  to  cover  the 
working  parties  that  is  possible,  only  we  may  consider  it  bet 
ter  done  by  combining  all  against  the  hostile  Sioux  offensively, 
instead  of  keeping  the  soldiers  close  in,  in  sight  of  your  men. 
I  think  with  a  little  explanation  from  you,  the  working  par 
ties  will  understand  that  they  are  more  safe  along  the  Lodge 
Pole  with  our  soldiers  two  or  three  hundred  miles  north, 
than  if  those  same  soldiers  were  close  at  hand. 

I  also  received  this  letter  in  May,  notifying  me  of  his  con 
templated  trip  abroad : 

St.  Louis,  May  7th,  1867. 

My  Dear  General  Dodge :  I  have  your  valuable  letter  of 
April  28th,  and  am  fully  convinced  that  you  will  complete  that 
road  this  season  to  the  head  of  Crow  Creek,  and  it  may  be,  to 
Fort  Sanders.  Where  the  spring  has  been  so  prolonged,  I 
think  you  may  safely  count  on  a  late  fall.  I  will  not  be  sur 
prised  if  you  lay  rails  up  to  Christmas. 

I  think  this  year  is  our  crisis  on  the  plains,  because  every 
month  and  year  will  diminish  the  necessity  for  troops  in  the 
reconstructed  states,  and  give  us  more  and  more  troops  for 
the  plains,  especially  cavalry. 

I  suppose  I  am  in  for  the  excursion  up  the  Mediterranean. 
We  are  advertised  to  sail  for  Gibraltar  June  8,  and  ought  to 
reach  Marseilles  July  4.  We  are  then  to  cruise  along  the 
Mediterranean  and  Black  Seas,  stopping  at  Genoa,  Leghorn, 
Naples,  Athens,  Constantinople  and  the  Crimea  (Sebastapol)  ; 
then  out  to  Smyrna,  Beirout,  Joppa  and  Alexandria,  back  to 
the  coast  of  Spain,  and  out  to  Medina,  and  home  in  October. 
If  you  will  keep  Nichols  here  advised,  he  will  reach  me 
through  General  Dix  at  Paris,  and  I  will  arrange  for  General 
Grant  to  telegraph  me  should  anything  of  enough  importance 
occur  to  call  me  back,  in  which  event,  I  will  be  prepared  to 
leave  the  ship  and  return  by  way  of  England.  My  depart 
ments  are  now  well  commanded,  and  should  any  combination 
of  the  troops  be  necessary,  General  Grant  will  order.  I  would 
not  go  if  I  thought  anything  would  suffer,  but  it  is  vain  for  me 
to  suppose  my  presence  necessary  when  General  Grant  freely 


200 PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  or  SHERMAN. 

offers  to  spare  me.  I  will  bear  in  mind  your  wish  and  will 
write  you  some  letters  from  abroad  as  a  keepsake,  and  as  evi 
dence  of  my  personal  friendship. 

Wishing  you  and  yours  all  possible  happiness,  etc., 

W.  T.  SHERMAN. 

On  receipt  of  General  Sherman's  letter  of  May  7.  I  wrote 
him  fully  about  the  attacks  on  our  forces  and  the  depredations 
of  the  Indians,  and  he  answered  as  follows : 

St.  Louis,  May  27,  1867. 

I  received  your  dispatches,  and  now  have  your  interesting 
letter  of  May  20th. 

I  have  had  a  good  deal  of  correspondence  about  the  protec 
tion  of  the  country  along  the  railroad,  which  I  deem  of  the 
first  importance,  although  to  make  it  effectual  I  see  no  other 
way  than  first  to  attack  the  Sioux,  who  remain  near  the  Yel 
lowstone  in  defiance.  If  they  remain,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
they  will  not  confine  themselves  to  attacking  the  trains  that 
go  to  supply  Phil.  Kearney  and  C.  F.  Smith,  but  Avill  come 
south  to  your  road.  I  think  General  Auger  should  go  there 
in  force,  and  we  must  also  get  other  troops  to  defend  our 
working  parties.  I  have  asked  General  Grant  for  another 
battalion  of  cavalry  for  that  special  purpose,  and  if  he  can 
he  will  grant  it.  You  know  that  the  same  call  comes  from 
every  quarter,  and  it  is  very  hard  to  say  which  is  of  the  most 
importance.  I  wish  to  assure  you  that  I  do  not  under-value 
your  work  for,  on  its  account,  I  give  up  my  proposed  trip  to 
Europe,  and  if  I  can,  will  come  up  this  summer  and  attend  to 
it  in  person ;  but  I  know  that  of  myself  I  can  do  little  without 
a  force  in  reserve,  and  that  I  will  try  and  obtain.  If  the  worst 
comes  to  the  worst,  I  will  call  on  Nebraska  for  a  regiment  of 
mounted  troops,  for  the  special  task  of  defending  interests 
which  are  vital  to  her  progress.  I  don't  want  to  do  this  if  it 
can  be  avoided,  as  every  state  and  territory  that  has  contact 
with  Indians  will  raise  a  clamor,  as  has  been  done  more  than 
once,  for  local  troops  serving  in  their  own  interest.  One 
would  suppose  more  of  the  regular  army  should  be  among  the 
Indians,  where  danger  is  imminent,  instead  of  in  southern 
cities,  such  as  Mobile  and  New  Orleans,  but  when  Mr.  Key 
can  announce  that  he  can  have  all  the  regular  army  to  back 
him  in  his  speeches  at  the  south,  we  see  that  there  is  a  call 
for  troops  there,  on  questions  that  Congress  thinks  are  as  vital 
as  those  of  the  Indian  question.  I  have  the  same  appeals  from 
Minnesota,  Montana  and  Dakota,  as  well  as  from  Kansas,  New 
Mexico  and  Colorado.  Each  wants  enough  of  the  army  to 


PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  201 

guard  them  against  all  the  Indians,  but  I  note  your  road  as 
of  the  most  important  and  have  given  General  Auger  a  very 
large  portion  of  my  whole  command,  but  will  increase  it  if  T 
can  get  the  men. 

February  22d,  1868,  when  I  was  in  command  of  the  De 
partment  of  the  Missouri,  I  located  the  post  of  Fort  Sanders, 
where  I  thought  the  railroad  would  pass  very  near  and  I 
made  a  reservation  there  of  ten  square  miles  of  ground.  When 
we  came  to  make  our  surveys,  our  line  passed  through  this 
reservation.  We  established  the  towTn  of  Laramie  City  on  a 
-  portion  of  this  reservation.  I  had  no  idea  the  Government 
would  make  any  objection  to  our  occupying  the  reservation. 
But  the  officers  at  Fort  Sanders  reported  the  fact  that  we  were 
locating  the  line  and  building  it  through  the  reservation,  and 
it  brought  orders  from  the  War  Department  in  relation  to  it, 
and  on  February  21st.  I  Avrote  General  Win.  T.  Sherman  to  be 
allowed  to  go  on  the  reservation  until  proper  authority  from 
t-he  War  Department  was  obtained. 

On  March  3d,  1868,  General  Sherman  wrote  me  the  follow 
ing  letter  in  relation  to  the  subject  which  I  had  laid  before 
him : 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 

I  got  your  dispatch  last  night  and  have1  answered  it;  have 
also  written  General  Auger  in  general  terms  to  facilitate 
the  progress  of  the  road  by  conceding  the  use  of  ground  near 
Fort  Sanders  for  depot,  etc.  But  what  you  want  is  a  perma 
nent  title,  not  that  mere  temporary  use  that  we  are  empowered 
to  grant. 

I  advise  you  to  cause  the  most  accurate  plat  to  be  made 
that  you  can,  and  delineate  thereon  the  ground  you  want,  with 
its  metes  and  bounds,  and  what  part  of  it  is  included  within 
our  Fort  Sanders,  the  indefinite  use  of  the  space  delineated, 
or  for  an  absolute  title.  This  paper  should  go  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  War,  who  would  probably  send  it  down  through  Gen 
eral  Grant  and  myself,  to  General  Auger,  the  department  com 
mander,  all  of  whom  would  doubtless  recommend  the  grant, 
provided  the  depot,  as  you  say,  be  as  far  off  from  the  posts  as 
two  miles. 

Tn  case  the  land  has  been  publicly  dedicated  to  use  as  a 
military  reservation,  an  act  of  Congress  might  be  necessary  to 


202  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

convey  it  to  you,  but,  as  the  public  land  surveys  have  not  yet 
reached  the  Laramie  plains,  I  take  it  that  our  occupation  of 
that  reservation  can  be  limited  by  a  simple  order  of  the  Sec 
retary  of  War,  so  as  to  leave  the  railroad  company  the  right 
of  selection,  under  the  bill  you  showed  me  in  Washington  this 
winter. 

I  would  not  be  willing  to  order  the  modification  of  the  lim 
its  of  reservation,  after  the  map  has  been  made  and  filed  in 
the  War  Department,  as  I  believe  is  the  case  with  the  reserva 
tion  in  question,  but  I  would  not  hesitate -to  grant  you  the 
right-of-way  and  the  use  of  any  reasonable  part  of  the  reser 
vation  for  side  tracks  and  depots,  but  my  grant  would  only  be 
temporary,  and  could  be  modified,  altered,  or  annulled  by  my 
successors  in  office,  or  by  higher  authority. 

In  a  similar  case,  at  Fort  Riley,  Congress  granted  twenty 
acres  for  a  depot  within  the  reserve,  and  a  fractional  section 
on  its  western  edge. 

I  had  been  pressing  General  Sherman  and  General  Auger 
to  make  preparations  for  the  furnishing  of  my  engineering 
parties  with  escorts  and  for  placing  troops  along  all  the  lines 
that  was  to  be  opened  up,  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  them 
from  the  Indian  depredations.  The  Indians  had  been  aggres 
sive  since  1867,  and  from  the  information  I  could  get  were  pre 
paring  to  swoop  down  upon  us  as  soon  as  we  opened  up  work 
in  the  spring. 

In  answer  to  my  letters,  on  January  23d,  1868,  General 
Sherman  wrote  me  as  follows  : 

January  23d,  1868. 

Last  summer  when  on  the  Indian  commission,  Senator  Hen 
derson  repeatedly  told  me  that  the  subsidy  of  $16,000  per  mile 
to  railroads  and  the  liberal  compensation  to  the  stage  lines  was 
intended  purposely  to  be  in  line  of  "protection"  by  the  mili 
tary.  General  Auger  has  shown  me  your  letter  of  .the  14th.  in 
which  you  ask  pretty  large  escorts  and  posts  for  the  protection 
and  the  operation  of  your  .road.  I  wish  you  would  see  Mr.  Hen 
derson.  Show  him  this,  and  have  a  simple  resolution  passed 
Congress  directing  the  General-in-Chief,  or  President,  to  af 
ford  suitable  military  protection  to  the  parties  engaged  in  the 
location  and  construction  of  the  Pacific  Railroad.  This  will 
warrant  the  expenses  to  which  we  are  put  in  providing  the 
troops  and  trains  employed  for  that  purpose. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SUKILMAX.  203 

We  had  to  bear  the  blame  of  precipitating  an  Indian  war, 
because  we  tried  to  protect  these  roads  and  stage  lines,  and 
that  was  used  as  an  argument  why  the  military  should  not  be 
used  for  a  purpose  antagonistic  to  the  Indian  nation. 

On  receipt  of  this  letter,  I  introduced  a  resolution  in  Con 
gress  providing  for  this,  which  was  promptly  passed,  giving  the 
military  full  authority  in  the  matter,  although  Congress 
thought  they  had  already  given  it  to  them. 

The  tracks  were  joined  at  Promontory  on  May  10,  1869, 
and  not  forgetting  what  Sherman  had  done  to  make  the  great 
transcontinental  line  a  success,  I  sent  him  a  dispatch  when  the 
last  spike  was  being  driven  : 

Promontory,  Utah,  May  10,  1869. 
General  AY.  T.  Sherman  :, 

AYashirigton,  D.  C.  : 

The  tracks  of  the  Union  and  Central  Pacific  Railroads  were 
joined  today  at  Promontory,  Utah,  2,500  miles  west  of  the  At 
lantic,  and  790  miles  east  of  the  Pacific  Oceans. 

Your  continuous  active  aid,  with  that  of  the  Army,  has 
made  you  a  part  of  us  and  enabled  us  to  complete  our  work  in 
so  short  a  time.  I  congratulate  you  upon  it,  and  thank  you  for 
all  ou  have  done  for  us. 


And   General   Sherman   answered   as   follows  : 

Washington,  May  11,  1869. 
General  G.  M.  Dodge: 

Tn  common  with  millions,  I  sat  yesterday  and  heard  the 
mystic  taps  of  the  telegraphic  battery  and  heard  the  nailing 
of  the  last  spike  in  the  great  Pacific  road.  Indeed,  am  I  its 
friend?  Yes.  Yet,  am  I  to  be  a  part  of  it,  for  as  early  as  1864 
I  was  vice  president  of  the  effort  begun  in  San  Francisco  under 
the  contract  of  Robinson,  Seymour  &  Company.  As  soon  as 
General  Thomas  makes  certain  preliminary  inspections  in  his 
new  command  on  the  Pacific,  I  will  go  out,  and,  I  need  not  say, 
will  have  different  facilities  from  that  of  1864,  when  the  only 
way  to  California  was  by  sail  around  Cape  Horn,  taking  our 
ships  196  days.  All  honor  to  you,  to  Durant.  to  Jack  and  Dan 
Casement,  to  Reed,  and  the  thousands  of  brave  fellows  who 
have  wrought  out  this  glorious  problem,  spite  of  changes, 
storms,  and  even  doubts  of  the  incredulous,  and  all  the  obsta 
cles  you  have  now  rapidly  surmounted. 

AY.  T.  SHERMAN,  General. 


204  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS. OF  SHEBMAN. 

There  is  no  one  who  has  taken  so  active  a  part,  and  who 
has  accomplished  so  much  for  the  benefit  of  the  Government,  in 
the  building  of  the  transcontinental  railroads  as  General  Sher 
man.  He  has  taken  occasion  to  look  after  and  to  speak  his 
mind  freely  about  them  since  their  construction,  and  in  Sep 
tember,  1888,  in  commenting  upon  a  paper  which  I  read  be 
fore  the  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  upon  the  Trans 
continental  Railway,  he  spoke  as  follows : 

I  need  not  speak  to  an  audience  such  as  this  in  praise  of 
the  historic  paper  just  read  by  General  Dodge.  It  so  hap 
pened  that  I  was,  before  the  Civil  War,  during  it,  and  since, 
deeply  interested  in  the  great  problem  of  a  Pacific  railway. 
Every  word  of  General  Dodge's  paper  is  true  to  my  personal 
knowledge,  and  I  endorse  every  proposition  he  has  made. 

When  the  Civil  War  was  over,  you  must  all  remember  that 
I  was  stationed  in  St.  Louis,  in  command  of  all  the  troops  on 
the  western  plains  as  far  out  as  Utah.  I  found  General  Dodge 
as  chief  engineer  of  the  Union  Pacific  railroad,  in  the  success 
of  which  enterprise  I  felt  the  greatest  possible  interest,  I 
promised  the  most  perfect  protection  by  troops  of  the  recon- 
noitering,  surveying  and  construction  parties,  and  made  fre 
quent  visits,  on  horseback  and  in  ambulance,  and  noticed  that 
the  heads  of  all  the  parties  had  been  soldiers  during  the  Civil 
War.  I  firmly  believe  that  the  Civil  War  trained  the  men 
who  built  that  great  national  highway,  and,  as  General  Dodge 
has  so  very  graphically  described,  he  could  call  on  any  body  of 
men  to  "fall  in,"  "take  arms,  form  platoons  and  companies," 
"deploy  as  skirmishers"  and  fight  the  marauding  Indians  just 
as  they  had  learned  to  fight  the  rebels  down  at  Atlanta.  I 
will  not  claim  that  they  were  all  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee, 
but  the  heads  of  the  parties  were  all,  or  nearly  all  Union  sol 
diers. 

I  was  particularly  interested  in  that  part  of  the  paper 
wherein  is  described  the  discovery  of  the  way  to  cross  the 
Black  Hills  beyond  Cheyenne.  There  wras  no  Cheyenne  then. 
They  were  limited  by  the  law  to  116-foot  grade  to  the  mile. 
Instead  of  following  the  valley  of  Lodge  Pole  Creek,  as  all 
previous  engineers  had  done,  he  chose  the  upper  or  anti-clirial 
line,  instead  of  the  lower,  or  sin-clinal  line.  This  was  a  stroke 
of  genius,  by  which  they  surmounted  the  Rocky  Mountains  by 
a  grade  of  eighty  feet  to  the  mile,  whereas  by  any  other  route 
then  known  he  would  have  been  forced  to  a  grade  of  200  feet, 
or  to  adopt  short  curves  .through  the  Laramie  Pass. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SII.KHMAN.  205 

The  Union  and  Central  Pacific  Railroads  were  the  pioneer 
trans-continental  roads  in  America,  arid  every  man  who  did 
his  part  should  receive  all  honor.  Now  there  are  five  trans 
continental  railroads,  the  last  the  Canadian  Pacific. 

It  so  happened  that  two  years  ago,  having  traveled  by 
every  other  way,  I  expressed  a  wish  to  return  from  SHU  Fran 
cisco  eastward  bj7  the  Canadian  Pacific,  just  completed.  To 
my  amazement  I  discovered  that  the  president  of  that  railroad 
was  Sir  William  C.  Van  Home,  one  of  our  railroad  men,  edu 
cated  in  our  war  between  Nashville  and  Atlanta.  He  was  then, 
as  now,  the  president  of  that  railroad,  with  a  salary  of  from 
$25,000  to  $50,000,  and  they  talked  of  making  him  a  Duke.  He 
can  hold  his  own  with  any  Duke  I  have  thus  far  encountered. 
Anyhow,  he  acted  like  a  Prince  to  me.  From  his  office  in 
Montreal  he  ordered  his  agent  at  Victoria,  in  British  Colum 
bia,  to  extend  to  General  Sherman  every  possible  courtesy, 
which  was  done.  I  had  a  special  car  for  myself  and  daughter, 
Lizzie,  with  privilege  of  stopping  over  at  any  station. 

On  my  way  eastward  I  met  many  people  and  heard  many 
things  of  deep  interest  to  me,  and,  maybe  to  you.  There  are 
three  mountain  ranges  between  the  Mississippi,  or  rather  the 
Missouri  Valley,  and  the  Pacific  Ocean — the  Rockies,  the  Wa- 
satch  and  the  Cascades.  These  converge  to  the  northwest,  so 
that  in  the  Canadian  Pacific  the  engineers  had  to  meet  them 
closer  together  than  by  our  Northern  Pacific  or  by  the  Central 
or  Union. 

In  the  first  explorations  the  English  engineers  saw  no 
escape  from  the  conclusion  that  to  pass  these  ranges  from 
their  starting  point  on  to  the  Pacific  at  Vancouver,  a  magnifi 
cent  port,  they  would  have  to  follow  the  grade  of  Fraser  River, 
by  its  west  branch  to  it's  very  head,  near  the  Henry  House, 
and  thence  descend  the  Athabasca  eastward  to  Winnepeg,  etc. 
This  route  was  about  400  miles  longer  than  the  direct  line.  The 
board  of  directors  in  Montreal  then  called  on  the  experienced 
engineers  of  the  United  States,  and  found  a  man  who  under 
took  to  cut  across  this  great  bend  or  loop. 

Instead  of  following  the  west  branch  of  the  Fraser  River, 
he  took  the  east  branch,  Thompson's,  up  to  the  Kampools' 
lake.  The  mountains  eastward  seemed  impassable,  but  he  rea 
soned  "where  there's  a  will  there's  a  way."  Through  brush 
and  trees  he  forced  his  way.  and  found  a  pass  in  the  Cascade 
range  called  Kicking  Horse,  where  his  horse  had  kicked  him 
on  the  knee.  Persevering,  he  in  the  next  or  main  range,  ob 
served  the  flight  of  an  eagle,  which  did  not  as  usual  pass  over 
the  highest  visible  peak  but  disappeared  around  a  point;  so 
he  followed  the  same  course,  found  an  unexpected  break,  and 
located  a  railroad  with  less  grade  than  the  Union  Pacific,  and 


206  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

saved  a  distance  of  four  hundred  miles,  or  twenty  millions  of 
dollars. 

In  looking  over  the  usual  timetables  of  the  Canadian  Pa 
cific,  you  will  find  the  Kicking  Horse  and  Eagle  Pass  through 
which  millions  of  people  will  travel  and  millions  of  dollars  of 
freight  will  pass.  All  are,  in  part,  the  consequence  of  our 
Civil  War,  and  the  men  it  educated. 

These  men  were  S.  B.  Eeed  and  M.  F.  Hurd,  both  engineers 
in  the  survey  and  construction  of  the  Union  Pacific  railway. 

General  Sherman  heard  I  was  going  to  Europe  and  volun 
tarily  sent  me  this  letter : 

Headquarters,  Army  of  the  United  States, 

Washington,  D.  C.,  April  20th,  1877. 
To  U.  S.  Counsuls  Abroad : 

I  learn  that  General  G.  M.  Dodge  is  starting  soon  for  Eu 
rope,  expecting  to  leave  his  children  at  school  whilst  he  returns 
to  America,  where  he  is  actively  employed  in  railroad  construc 
tion  and  management.  I  take  great  pleasure  in  commending 
Gieneral  Dodge  and  family  to  the  courtesy  and  politeness  of 
all  Americans,  especially  such  as  occupy  official  positions,  be 
cause  General  Dodge  is  one  of  the  generals  who  actually 
fought  throughout  the  Civil  War,  with  great  honor  and  great 
skill,  commanding  a  regiment,  brigade,  division  and  finally  a 
Corps  d'armee,  the  highest  rank  command  to  which  any  officer 
can  attain. 

He  was  with  me  in  the  west,  especially  in  the  Atlanta  cam 
paign,  where  he  was  severely  wounded,  close  to  Atlanta,  and 
I  think  that  he,  and  especially  his  children,  should  experience 
the  attention  of  all  officers  of  a  government  that  might  have 
perished  had  it  not  been  for  the  blood  of  just  such  men  as  Gen 
eral  Dodge. 

With  great  respect, 

W.  T.  SHERMAN,  General. 

After  the  publication  of  General  Sherman's  Memoirs,  there 
were  a  great  many  criticisms  from  officers  under  him  and 
from  others  in  relation  to  many  of  the  statements  in  the  Me 
moirs  as  to  the  part  taken  by  each,  and  as  to  his  own  move 
ments. 

In  answer  to  these  criticisms,  General  Sherman  said  he 
thought  each  person  should  write  up  the  Civil  War  as  they 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  207 

saw  it;  that  was  the  way  he  did  and  he  thought  everyone  else 
should  do  the  same ;  that  no  two  persons  saw  the  same  thing 
alike. 

General  Sherman  wrote  me  a  letter  asking  me  to  write  up 
the  part  the  Sixteenth  Army  Corps  took  in  the  campaign  as  I 
saw  it  and  when  I  sent  the  paper  to  him,  he  immediately  wrote 
me  that  it  was  of  so  much  importance  that  he  should  print  it 
in  the  appendix  to  his  second  edition,  which  was  done. 

My  communication  to  him  was  as  follows : 

Dear  General :  Your  suggestion  to  send  you  a  brief  resume 
of  the  part  taken  by  my  Corps  (the  Sixteenth)  of  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee  in  the  Aalanta  campaign,  was  received  some 
time  ago.  I  reply  as  early  as  possible  in  view  of  absence  and 
other  engagements. 

I  wish  to  refer  to  only  such  parts  of  the  Atlanta  campaign 
as  have  been  to  some  extent  the  subject  of  public  comment, 
through  your  Memoirs,  and  to  which  my  personal  testimony 
may  contribute  light. 

I  shall  therefore  confine  myself  to  the  attempted  surprise 
of  Resaca,  May  9,  1864,  and  some  following  events,  and  to  the 
repulse  of  General  Hood's  rear  movement  at  Atlanta  July  22. 

The  Sixteenth  Corps,  as  the  vanguard  of  General  McPher- 
son's  army,  penetrated,  first  through  the  Chattanooga  moun 
tains,  and  made  the  attack  on  Resaca.  The  same  Corps,  while 
moving  to  a  new  position  around  Atlanta,  fell  across  the  way 
of  Hood's  army,  and  met  him  on  such  opportunely  good 
ground  that  the  battle  was  accepted  on  the  spot. 

I  state  these  general  facts  to  save  you  the  trouble  of  ex 
plaining  them  again  if  you  should  ever  make  use  of  this  let 
ter.  Your  rapid  and  general  summary  of  a  maze  of  events,  in 
which  the  part  of  a  Corps  is  more  or  less  lost  in  the  movement 
of  several  armies,  has  attracted  my  admiration  for  its  clear 
ness,  and  I  can  well  see  how  the  limitations  of  your  book  have 
compelled  a  severe  distribution  of  prominence  to  the  many 
detachments. 

The  left  wing  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps,  the  other  wing  not 
being  in  this  campaign,  arrived  at  Chattanooga  in  the  evening 
of  May  5,  in  the  cars,  the  batteries  and  transportation  follow 
ing  by  road  from  Pulaski,  Tennessee,  and  Athens,  Alabama. 

The  same  evening  General  McPherson's  orders  arrived  to 
take  the  initiative  for  his  army,  and  to  move  to  Gordon 's  Mills. 
While  marching  there  the  next  day,  verbal  orders  came  to  push 
a  portion  of  my  command  forward  toward  Villanow,  and  seize 


208  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  or  SHERMAN. 

Ship's  Gap.  Sprague's  Brigade,  of  the  Fourth  Division,  did 
this  at  midnight  of  the  same  day,  and  the  next  day  we  had 
passed  through  and  occupied  Villanow. 

The  third  day  (May  8),  my  command,  with  the  Second 
Division  in  advance,  moved  rapidly  to  Snake  Creek  Gap,  one 
day  before  my  orders  had  contemplated,  they  advising  me  to 
march  when  the  Fifteenth  Corps  had  closed  up  on  me. 

I  had  heard  from  General  McPherson,  personally  however, 
that  the  object  was  to  threaten  Johnston's  flank  and  commun 
ications,  and  the  Ninth  Illinois  Mounted  Infantry,  supported  by 
the  Thirty-ninth  Iowa,  went  forward  through  the  Gap  to 
Sugar  Creek  Valley,  a  portion  of  the  Corps  without  transpor 
tation,  following,  and  intrenching  that  night,  thus  holding  its 
eastern  outlet. 

On  the  evening  of  May  8,  instead  of  May  9,  I  was  aston 
ished  to  find  this  strong  position,  the  sidegate  to  Johnston's 
rear,  not  only  undefended  but  unoccupied,  though  a  few  men 
might  have  held  it. 

Having  reported  the  fact  to  General  McPherson,  and  also 
that  Colonel  Phillips  reported  Resaca  occupied  by  a  Brigade 
of  the  enemy,  I  received  his  orders  to  inarch  at  6  o'clock  next 
morning,  the  9th  of  May,  toward  Resaca,  and  there  await  spe 
cific  orders  and  instructions.  The  object  of  the  movement 
was  stated  to  be  a  demonstration  upon  Resaca,  while  other 
troops  were  to  cut  the  railroad  north  of  that  place. 

At  daylight  of  the  9th,  my  advance,  consisting  of  a  regi 
ment  of  mounted  infantry,  supported  by  a  regiment  of  infan 
try,  was  attacked  by  Fergusin's  Brigade  of  the  enemy's  Cav 
alry,  and  Colonel  Phillips  was  severely  wounded. 

We  drove  the  enemy  rapidly  before  us  to  Rome  Cross 
roads,  where  I  received  orders  to  advance  upon  Resaca,  to 
press  forward  until  I  should  succeed  in  developing  the  enemy 
in  line  of  battle,  or  in  his  fortifications,  but  not  to  attack  him 
there  without  orders. 

I  was  also  ordered  to  hold  the  Calhoun  and  Dalton  Cross 
roads,  about  two  miles  west  of  Resaca,  if  I  became  possessed 
of  it,  until  the  Fifteenth  Corps  arrived.  These  orders  were 
obeyed,  my  force  skirmishing  heavily  the  entire  distance  to 
the  Calhoun  Crossroads. 

The  enemy  was  discovered  in  line  of  battle  on  Bald  Hill, 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  west  of  Resaca,  and  also  in  his  works 
at  Resaca. 

I  placed  the  Fourth  Division  at  the  crossroads,  formed  the 
Second  Division  in  two  lines,  and  carried  the  hill  and  holding 
them  under  instructions,  awaited  my  orders  from  General  Mc 
Pherson,  to  whom  I  had  promptly  reported,  sending,  I  think, 
my  staff  officer,  Captain  Edward  Jonas,  telling  General  Me- 


PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  209 

Pherson  that  if  we  could  make  a  prompt  attack  we  could  carry 
Resaca,  as  the  enemy  in  my  front  gave  way  readily,  and  that 
though  prisoners  had  reported  the  arrival  of  Canty 's  Brigade 
the  night  before,  I  did  not  believe  it,  as  no  such  force  as  a 
Division  showed  in  our  front. 

General  McPherson  soon  came  upon  the  ground  in  person. 
He  directed  me  to  send  some  mounted  men  up  the  Dalton  road 
to  reconnoiter  the  country  and  find  an  approach  to  the  rail 
road,  while  he  would  go  back  and  bring  up  the  Fifteenth  (Lo 
gan's)  Corps. 

Until  the  Corps  arrived,  I  was  to  hold  the  Bald  Hill  indi 
cated,  and  the  Dalton  and  Calhoun  Crossroads.  I  sent  all  the 
mounted  men  I  had  with  me  at  the  time,  18  in  number  (of  the 
Ninth  Illinois)  under  Captain  Hughes.  They  proceeded  to 
ward  Dalton,  struck  the  railroad  two  miles  south  of  Tilton, 
and  found  it  strongly  patrolled  by  cavalry.  They  cut  the  tele 
graph  wires,  burned  a  wood  station,  and  reported  to  me  again 
at  dark. 

Meanwhile  the  enemy  came  marching  out  of  Resaca  up  the 
Dalton  Railroad,  and  I  ordered  the  Fourth  Division  to  march 
from  Calhoun  Crossroads  and  to  intercept  them,  and  to  take 
position  on  the  railroad  north  of  Resaca.  This  order  was  re 
ported  to  General  McPherson  promptly;  he  replied  that  I 
must  hold  the  crossroads  until  relieved. 

It  was  about  4  o'clock  when  I  finally  received  from  one  of 
General  McPherson 's  staff  officers  the  information  that  the 
Fifteenth  Corps  was  closing  up  and  that  I  was  now  at  liberty 
to  carry  out  my  movement  against  the  railroad. 

It  was  intrusted  by  me  to  General  Veatch,  with  Fuller's 
and  Sprague's  Brigade  of  his  Division  (the  Fourth).  The  Sec 
ond  Division  was  stationed  on  Bald  Hill,  which  I  had  occupied 
about  noon,  and  the  left  of  this  Division  was  now  assailed  with 
musketry,  while  the  marching  Division  was  fired  upon  as  they 
advanced  in  column  in  full  view  of  the  enemy. 

Fuller,  in  the  advance,  moved  with  spirit  across  the  west 
fork  of  Mill  Creek,  crossed  an  open  field,  and  the  skirmish 
line  was  up  to  the  timber  skirting  the  railroad,  when  another 
order  came  from  General  McPherson  to  look  to  my  right,  as 
the  enemy  was  massing  to  strike  me  there.  I  was  with  Fuller's 
advance  at  this  time  and  the  enemy  that  had  come  out  of 
Resaca  had  opened  on  Fuller's  troops  in  the  open  field. 

Nearby  was  a  good  cover  of  woods  on  the  east  side  of  the 
creek,  to  attain  which  I  changed  the  direction  of  Fuller's  col 
umn  more  to  the  north;  his  skirmish  line  took  some  prisoners; 
the  morning  rumor  was  confirmed  by  them  that  Canty 's  Bri 
gade  had  arrived. 


210  PERSONAL  .RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

Fuller  steadily  advanced,  however,  and  as  soon  as  his 
skirmish  lines  debouched  from  the  woods,  a  regiment  of  the 
enemy's  infantry  and  a  battery  in  position  opened  directly 
upon  his  right  and  front.  Another  notice  had  been  received 
from  General  McPherson,  as  we  got  to  the  roads,  that  Sprague's 
Bridade  was  not  following  us,  having  been  arrested  by  him  to 
hold  the  space  between  the  Second  and  the  advance  of  the 
Fourth  Division. 

While  Fuller  was  executing  the  movement  to  gain  the  rail 
road,  a  final  order  came  to  me  from  General  McPherson  to 
halt  the  column,  and  to  repair  in  person  to  him  back  of  Bald 
Hill  occupied  by  the  Second  Division.  There  I  found  Gen 
eral' McPherson  and  General  Logan  with  the  advance  of  Lo 
gan's  Fifteenth  Corps.  They  were  discussing  the  propriety 
of  an  attack  upon  Eesaca.  General  Logan  asked  me  what  I 
thought  of  the  situation  and  if  we  could  carry  the  place.  I  re 
plied  I  thought  we  could.  Logan  responded  that  he  was  glad  I 
had  so  much  faith. 

McPherson  appeared  to  feel  the  responsibility  of  his  or 
ders  from  the  Commander  of  the  Army,  as  well  as  the  responsi 
bility  of  holding  the  gap  we  had  already  seized.  He  listened 
attentively  to  the  conversation,  to  my  description  of  the  posi 
tion,  and  to  the  nature  of  the  orders  I  had  given.  He  reluct 
antly  gave  orders  for  us  to  return  immediately. 

The  Sixteenth  Corps  withdrew  over  the  eight  miles  they 
had  already  marched  that  day,  reaching  the  eastern  debouche 
of  the  gap  at  midnight.  I  had  with  the  entire  Corps  only  17 
wagons  since  leaving  Chattanooga. 

My  transportation  had  not  yet  come  up,  and  the  men  and 
animals  had  been  without  any  food  for  a  day  and  a  half  other 
than  what  could  be  afforded  by  the  poor  and  picked  country 
we  had  marched  over. 

A  day  or  two  after  our  return  to  the  gap,  General  Mc 
Pherson  stated  to  me  the  contents  of  a  letter  or  letters  from 
General  Sherman  commenting  upon  the  march  to  Resaca.  He 
seemed  to  feel  that  their  criticism  amounted  to  censure,  but  he 
had  assumed  the  responsibility. 

He  said  a  part  of  one  of  his  Corps  was  still  west  of  the 
Gap,  guarding  trains;  that  he  could  not  have  thrown  his  whole 
force  across  the  railroad,  as  they  were  situated,  and  that  he 
looked  for  his  vindication'  to  the  successful  termination  of  the 
campaign.  He  said: 

We  had  ascertained,  from  prisoners  taken  the  day  of  the 
advance  to  Resaca,  that  the  enemy  knew  just  what  force  had 
passed  through  the  Gap,  and  where  the  balance  of  the  army 
was.  He  made  the  final  decision  to  return  to  the  Gap  between 


PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIONS  OF  SUKUMAX. 211 

5  and  6  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  being  satisfied  nothing  could 
be  accomplished  by  attacking  an  entrenched  post  that  late  in 
ihe  day. 

At  Snake  Creek  Gap  we  waited  three  days,  seeing  the  whole 
army  move  through  the  pass  we  had  captured,  "to  Johnston's 
complete  surprise,"  and  fortifying  Sugar  Creek  Valley.  May 
13,  the  Fourth  Division  of  my  Corps  formed  on  the  right  of  the 
Fifteenth  Corps,  resting  on  the  Oostenaula  River,  and  took 
part  in  the  attack  on  Resaca. 

My  Second  Division  (Sweeney's),  May  14,  went  on  to  Lay's 
Ferry,  below  Resaca,  to  cross  the  Oostenaula  River  and 
threaten  Johnston's  communications.  General  Rico  with  the 
advance  Brigade  crossed  in  the  face  of  Walker's  Division.  As 
soon  as  this  movement  in  the  rear  was  accomplished,  Johnston 
began  to  retreat  from  Resaca,  which  he  had  defended  a  sec 
ond  time  with  his  whole  army,  and  which  he  "only  evacuated 
because  his  safety  demanded  it." 

I  desire  only  to  refer  to  the  action  of  July  4,  described  in 
the  Memoirs  as  "noisy  but  not  desperate." 

The  Fourth  Division  of  my  Corps,  under  General  Fuller, 
pressed  forward  on  that  day,  crossing  the  Nickajack  Creek  at 
Ruff's  Mill,  driving  the  enemy  before  us,  until,  after  two  miles 
of  skirmishing,  we  developed  him  in  strong  entrenchments  and 
in  a  very  heavy  force. 

The  Memoirs  imply  that  this  wras  the  head  of  the  column  of 
the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  unintentionally  leave  it  to 
be  inferred  that  the  storming  of  the  works  was  General 
Thomas'  performance.  It  was  General  McPherson  who  sent 
me  a  message  to  attack  at  discretion,  or  if  T  thought  I  could, 
carry  the  works.  A  prisoner  informed  me  that  Hood's  Corps 
was  before  me,  and  1  proceeded  to  reconnoiter  their  works, 
which  I  found  very  strong,  but,  as  I  observed  a  singular  con 
fusion  there,  indicative  of  retreating,  and  knew  that  the  4th 
of  July  would  be  a  good  day  to  assault,  I  formed  a  charging 
column  of  a  part  of  the  Fourth  Division,  the  39th  and  27th 
Ohio,  and  the  64th  Illinois  Infantry  of  my  Corps,  under  com 
mand  of  Colonel  E.  F.  Noyes. 

A  supporting  column  was  made  up  of  the  Sixty -sixth  Illi 
nois  and  the  Second  Iowa  of  the  Second  Division.  Noyes 
moved  forward  with  gallantry,  although  he  fell  at  the  first  fire 
and  lost  his  leg,  but  through  almost  impenetrable  abattis  and 
fallen  timber,  the  men  went  over  the  intrenchrnents,  and  took 
100  prisoners,  and  they  so  settled  the  enemy's  confusion,  if 
any  there  was,  that  the  whole  of  that  line  was  soon  aban 
doned. 

I  now  come  to  the  last  subject  of  my  letter,  the  battle  of 
the  22d  of  July,  where  General  McPherson  lost  his  life. 


212  PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  or  SHERMAN. 

The  movement  ordered  by  General  Sherman,  of  the  trans 
fer  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  from  the  right  to  the  extreme 
left  of  the  combined  armies  began  June  9. 

Marching  from- Sand  Town,  by  the  rear  to  the  left,  on  the 
9th  of  July,  the  Sixteenth  Corps,  bivouacked,  at  10  o'clock  at 
night,  near  Marietta,  continued  on  at  3  o'clock,  in  the  dark  of 
the  morning,  and  that  day  had  crossed  the  Chattahoochee, 
spanned  it  with  a  foot-bridge  700  feet  long,  covered  it  with  a 
long  tete-du-pont  and  intrenched  on  the  Atlanta  side. 

The  march  was  31  miles,  the  heat  was  intense,  yet  the  men 
w^ere  uncomplaining  and  ardent,  and  for  nearly  three  days 
more  they  worked  in  reliefs  of  1,000  in  the  mud  and  water 
until  we  completed.  July  13,  at  Roswell,  Ga.,  a  double-track 
trestle  bridge  14  feet  high  and  710  feet  long.  The  material 
used  was  standing  timber  and  some  cotton  mills.  Over  this 
bridge  the  entire  army  of  the  Tennessee,  with  trains  and  ar 
tillery,  passed. 

On  the  17th  the  command  moved  toward  Decatur,  cutting 
a  new  road  so  as  not  to  infringe  upon  the  Seventeenth  and 
Twenty-third  Corps,  which  took  the  old  roads,  keeping  its 
•communication  with  those  Corps ;  the  Sixteenth  advanced  be 
hind  its  pioneers,  preceded  by  the  Ninth  Illinois  Mounted  In 
fantry,  which  skirmished  with  the  enemy  at  Nancy's  Creek  and 
drove  them  across.  Here  one  of  my  scouts,  who  had  left 
Atlanta  that  morning,  brought  the  first  intelligence  of  Hood 
having  superseded  Johnston,  which  was  at  once  sent  to  Gen 
erals  Sherman  and  McPherson. 

Decatur  was  occupied  July  19,  after  a  heavy  skirmish  and 
artillery  fighting,  and  Colonel  Sprague,  with  Second  Brigade 
of  Fourth  Division,  was  placed  there  to  relieve  General  Ger- 
rard's  Cavalry  Division,  and  to  guard  the  trains.  As  we  ap 
proached  Atlanta  the  converging  Corps  forced  the  Sixteenth 
Corps  out  of  line,  and  a  series  of  transfers  began. 

On  the  21st  of  July  General  Fuller,  with  First  Brigade, 
Fourth  Division,  was  put  in  reserve  to  the  Seventeenth  Corps, 
and  United  States  Regular  Battery  F,  of  the  Fourth  Division, 
was  put  in  front  line  of  General  Giles  A.  Smith's  Division  of 
the  Seventeenth  Corps. 

My  Second  Division,  under  General  Sweeney,  moved  for 
ward  three-quarters  of  a  mile  beyond  its  old  position  to  a 
range  of  hills,  the  enemy  contesting  this  advance  very  sharp 
ly,  and  intrenched  there.  At  4  o'clock  the  next  morning  Gen 
eral  Sweeney  reported  to  me  that  the  enemy  had  disappeared 
from  his  front ;  whereupon,  I  ordered  -him  to  push  forward  a 
heavy  skirmish  line.  He  soon  found  the  enemy  in  force,  ir. 
works  surrounding  Atlanta. 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTION^  OF  SHERMAN.  213 

The  Second  Division  being  displaced  by  the  contraction  of 
the  lines,  and  the  Fifteenth  and  Twenty-third  Corps  closing  up 
on  each  other,  General  McPherson  ordered  me  to  move  to  the 
left  of  the  army,  and  place  Fuller's  First  Brigade  on  the  left 
of  the  new  position  to  be  assumed  by  the  Seventeenth  Corps, 
and  hold  the  rest  of  the  command  in  reserve  on  the  extreme 
left. 

Before  this  was  done,  I  rode  with  General  McPherson  from 
his  headquarters  to  the  front  on  the  direct  Decatur  and  Atlan 
ta  road.  It  was  quite  early  in  the  morning,  the  day  of  the 
Battle  of  Atlanta.  The  sudden  evacuation  of  the  enemy  was 
surprising  to  both  of  us,  and  gave  General  McPherson  serious 
concern.  He  requested  me  to  return  immediately  to  my  com 
mand  and  get  the  troops  upon  the  ground  they  were  to  occupy 
and  first  examine  that  ground  myself  and  choose  a  position 
on  the  left  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  and  also  to  feel  towards 
the  wagon  road  running  from  Atlanta  south. 

I  started  at  once.  There  was  a  crossroad  leading  to  the 
left  from  the  Atlanta  road,  in  the  rear  of  the  Fifteenth,  and 
passing  through  the  left  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  by  which 
I  gave  orders  for  the  Sixteenth  Corps  to  march,  while  I  went 
forward  rapidly  with  my  engineers  and  a  part  of  my  staff  to 
select  the  new  position. 

I  rode  out  beyond  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  far  in  advance 
and  within  easy  musket-range  of  the  works  of  Atlanta,  passing 
the  pioneers  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps  intrenching  the  new 
line.  The  stillness  was  oppressive  and  I  thought  almost  omin 
ous.  I  could  plainly  see  the  enemy's  troops  working  on  their 
fortifications  on  the  south  side  of  Atlanta,  and  they  allowed 
myself  and  staff  to  approach  within  easy  musket  range,  not 
firing  upon  us  until  we  turned  about  to  return  after  having 
picked  out  the  ground  for  the  Corps. 

As  we  retired,  the  enemy  opened  on  us  briskly  with  musket 
and  artillery.  I  at  once  sent  word  to  General  Fuller  to  send 
out  working  parties  to  intrench  his  line  on  the  new  position, 
and  for  the  Second  Division  to  move  to  the  rear  of  the  Seven 
teenth  Corps  and  bivouac. 

While  passing  through  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  I  left  an 
order  for  Murray's  Second  U.  S.  Battery  to  join  its  command, 
and  also  met  General  Giles  A.  Smith,  commanding  the  left 
Division  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  who  told  me  that  the  Sev 
enteenth  Corps  would  not  move  into  their  new  position  until 
night. 

Immediately  on  receiving  this  information  I  sent  General 
Sweeney  orders  to  halt  and  bivouac  his  Division  (the  Second) 
where  he  then  was.  viz,  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  in  the 


214  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  or  SHERMAN. 

rear  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps    (General  Logan's),   and  on  the 
right  and  rear  of  the  Seventeenth   (General  Blair's). 

At  noon  I.  reached  General  Fuller's  headquarters,  in  the 
rear  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps  and  almost  .directly  on  an  ex 
tension  of  the  line  of  Sweeney's  Division,  which  had  halted 
upon  receiving  my  order,  and  was  resting  by  the  roadside. 

While  at  Fuller's  headquarters  I  heard  straggling  shots 
fired  to  the  east  and  to  the  left  of  General  Sweeney's  Divi 
sion,  which  warned  me,  and  I  ordered  General  Fuller  to  put 
his  command  immediately  in  position,  and  spoke  to  him  of  the 
gap  of  about  one-quarter  of  a  mile  that  had  existed  between 
him  and  General  Giles  A.  Smith,  and  of  the  exposed  condition 
of  the  left  flank  of  our  army. 

I  called  his  attention  to  the  position  of  the  ammunition 
train  of  the  army,  on  the  right  of  Fuller  and  in  the  rear  of 
General  Smith,  where  they  were  very  much  exposed,  but  I 
had  scarcely  given  General  Fuller  his  orders  when  the  re 
port  came  in  that  the  enemy  was  in  force  in  our  rear,  and  de 
veloping  far  beyond  Sweeney. 

I  sent  a  staff-officer  to  General  Sweeney  on  the  minute,  with 
orders  to  immediately  close  on  Fuller,  (and  he  had  already 
sent  forward  skirmishers  in  the  direction  of  the  enemy's  fire) 
and  developed  the  enemy  in  large  force.  The  Second  Division 
had  just  got  into  position  when  -Hood's  army  appeared  in 
force,  advancing  in  three  columns. 

I  waited  until  the  enemy  was  fully  developed,  then  dis 
patched  a  staff  officer  to  General  Giles  A.  Smith,  telling  him 
that  the  enemy  was  attacking  in  his  rear,  that  he  must  refuse 
his  left  and  join  with  Fuller.  My  staff-officer  came  back 
with  the  information  that  General  Smith  had  not  then  been 
attacked,  and  the  enemy  was  all  developing  beyond  my  right 
in  the  timber,  covering  Fuller's  right  flank,  with  their  skirm 
ish  line  extending  around  to  the  left  of  Sweeney. 

I  observed  no  movement  of  General  Smith,  and  became 
very  anxious  for  the  safety  of  that  flank.  I  sent  another  staff- 
officer  to  General  Smith,  giving  him  fully  the  position  of  the 
enemy  and  telling  him  that  a  very  large  force  was  upon  our 
rear.  General  Smith  was  by  this  time  apprised  of  the  fact  of 
the  enemy's  intentions,  from  the  general  attack  which  had 
been  made  along  my  whole  line.  • 

It  was  afterwards  made  plain  to  me  by  General  Smith  why 
he  hesitated  to  comply  with  my  first  request.  He  was  in  the 
act  of  refusing  his  left,  when  General  McPherson  sent  him  or 
ders  to  hold  his  ground,  and  that  reinforcements  would  be  sent 
to  him,  or  his  left  protected.  General  McPherson  had  evidently 
sent  this  without  knowing  the  position  of  the  enemy  as  fully 


PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHEBMAN.  215 

as  I  did.    I  received  no  orders  from  General  McPherson  during 
the  battle. 

In  moving  out  of  the  timber  into  the  open  field  in  my  front, 
now  the  rear  of  the  army,  one  of  the  enemy's  columns  of  at 
tack  (the  center  column)  struck  a  mill  pond,  or  some  other  ob 
struction,  just  on  the  edge  of  an  open  field,  and  became  en 
tangled,  retarding  its  progress  and  exposing  the  flank  of  the 
other  column. 

I  saw  that  something  had  confused  the  enemy,  and  imme 
diately  ordered  Colonel  Mersey's  Brigade  to  charge  the  ad 
vance  column  on  the  exposed  flank,  and  also  sent  orders  to 
Fuller  to  instantly  charge  the  enemy  in  his  front  and  to  take 
advantage  of  their  embarrassment.  Both  commands  moved 
promptly,  and  fell  upon  the  enemy  and  drove  them  back 
across  the  field,  and  I  have  no  doubt  this  saved  my  command. 

While  .this  attack  was  progressing,  not  hearing  from  the 
staff-officer  I  sent  to  General  Smith,  and  seeing  that  the  enemy 
was  passing  to  my  right  in  the  rear,  and  far  down  the  line  of 
the  Seventeenth  Corps,  I  sent  another  staff-officer  to  that 
flank,  who  must  have  passed  up  the  road  a  short  time  before 
General  McPherson,  for  he  found  General  Giles  A.  Smith  hotly 
engaged  and  unable  to  move. 

Fortunately,  two  batteries  that  were  in  line  were  in  the 
center  of  Sweeney's  Division,  on  a  knoll  naturally  strong, 
covering  both  the  right  and  left  of  Sweeney's  Division,  This 
knoll  being  the  apex  of  the  formation  of  Sweeney's  Division, 
and  the  road  turning  wrest  at  that  point,  Sweeney  followed  the 
direction  of  the  road,  forming  his  line  right  where  his  men 
were  resting. 

These  two  batteries  fired  very  effectively  upon  the  enemy's 
advance  forces,  pouring  into  them  canister  at  short  range. 
The  fire  was  so  destructive  and  Mersey's  charge  so  furious  that 
the  enemy  soon  gave  way  on  their  front  and  fell  back  to  the 
timber,  General  Fuller  advanced  rapidly  across  the  field  driv 
ing  the  enemy  before  him,  developed  them  in  a  gap  between 
General  Smith  and  his  right,  and  drawing  a  rapid  fire  on 
his  right  flank  from  the  body  of  the  enemy  that  had  poured 
around  the  left  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  he  promptly  changed 
front  with  a  portion  of  his  Division  and,  under  a  galling  fire, 
moved  on  the  enemy  in  the  timber,  clearing  that  point. 

The  Sixty-fourth  Illinois  pushed  in  between  the  main  col 
umn  of  the  enemy  and  their  advance  in  the  timber  and  cap 
tured  their  skirmish  line — the  same  that  killed  General  Mc 
Pherson  a  few  minutes  before  and  who  were  then  in  possession 
of  his  papers  and  effects,  including  his  orders,  which  we  ob 
tained. 


216  PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

The  fighting  in  General  Fuller's  front  was  very  severe, 
and  the  ground  contested  inch  by  inch,  his  artillery  doing  very 
effective  service.  Finally,  the  enemy  fell  back  along  Fuller's 
whole  line,  and  I  swung  my  right  in  order  to  bring  it  into  line 
with  the  Brigade  that  McPherson  had  ordered  up  to  General 
Giles  A.  Smith's  aid,  which  had  been  forced  to  take  position 
to  the  right  and  somewhat  to  the  rear  of  Fuller's  advance. 

The  Seventeenth  Corps  reformed  its  left  at  right  angles 
with  the  original  lines,  and  joined  this  Brigade.  This  brought 
the  enemy  well  to  our  front,  and  there  we  kept  them  the  rest 
of  the  day.  Major-General  McPherson  arrived  on  the  ground 
during  the  attack  on  me ;  stood  near  the  ammunition  train  on 
the  right  of  my  line,  watching  the  result  of  my  counter-charge 
upon  the  enemy. 

As  soon  as  the  tide  turned  in  my  favor  he  followed  a  road 
through  the  timber,  leading  from  Fuller's  right  before  the  ad 
vance  of  the  left  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  still  unaware  of 
the  advance  of  the  enemy  into  the  gap  between  Fuller's  right 
and  the  Seventeenth  Corps. 

About  half  an  hour  after  my  first  repulse  of  the  enemy,  I 
received  a  report  that  General  McPherson  was  wounded  and 
it  was  about  3  P.  M.  before  I  was  aware  he  was  dead. 

About  4  P.  M.  General  Logan  called,  in  person,  for  aid  to 
drive  back  the  enemy  on  the  Decatur  and  Atlanta  road,  where 
he  had  made  a  sortie  and  gained  a  temporary  advantage, 
breaking  through  General  Morgan  L.  Smith's  Division  of  the 
Fifteenth  Corps.  I  sent  the  Second  Brigade  of  the  Second  Di 
vision,  under  Colonel  Mersey,  accompanied  by  Captain  Jonas 
of  my  staff. 

Mersey's  Brigade  immediately  went  into  line  and  moved 
down  the  main  road,  participating  in  the  charge  with  General 
"Wood's  Division  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  retook  the  works 
and  batteries  that  had  been  lost,  Colonel  Mersey  receiving  a 
wound  in  his  leg,  having  his  horse  killed  under  him.  General 
Morgan  L.  Smith,  who  witnessed  Colonel  Mersey's  attack, 
sent  by  Captain  Jonas  a  very  complimentary  message  as  to 
Colonel  Mersey's  charge  and  its  success.  When  General  Logan 
called -for  Mersey's  Brigade,  he  told  me  that  if  the  enemy  again 
attacked  me  and  I  needed  help  to. call  upon  General  J.  D.  Cox, 
of  the  Twenty-third  Corps.  At  5  P.  M.  the  enemy  made  a  dem 
onstration  on  my  extreme  left,  and  I  requested  General  Cox 
to  send  me  a  Brigade,  which  he  promptly  did.  The  enemy, 
however,  only  opened  with  artillery. 

Again  Mersey's  Brigade  was  called  into  action  about  mid 
night,  when  General  Logan  ordered  two  regiments  from  it  to 
occupy  the  hill,  that  had  been  hotly  contested  in  line  of  the 
Seventeenth  Corps,  and  relieve  the  troops  of  that  command. 


PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 217 

Mersey's  troops  promptly  executed  the  request,  crawling  on 
their  hands  and  knees,  finding  the  enemy  in  the  ditch  on  the 
outside  and  driving  them  out. 

The  time  of  Colonel  Mersey's  Brigade  had  expired;  they 
were  exempt  from  participating  in  this  battle,  had  they  chosen 
to  avail  themselves  of  this  right,  and  were  awaiting  transporta 
tion  north.  They  fought  successfully  on  different  parts  of 
the  field,  suffering  heavy  loss  in  killed  and  wounded.  Gen 
eral  Sprague,  who  was  at  Decatur  holding  that  town,  covering 
the  trains  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  with  three  regiments 
of  his  Brigade  and  six  guns  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade 
Battery  and  one  section  of  the  Eighth  Michigan  Artillery,  was 
attacked  by  the  enemy  in  overwhelming  numbers. 

Two  Divisions  of  Wheeler's  Cavalry,  dismounted,  charged 
upon  Sprague  from  three  different  directions.  ^General 
Sprague  concentrated  his  command,  and,  after  a  doubtful  and 
determined  contest,  held  the  enemy  in  check  and  gained  a 
position  north  of  the  town,  which  he  was  able  to  keep.  In 
their  charge  the  enemy  twice  got  possession  of  Sprague 's  ar 
tillery  but  were  immediately  driven  from  it. 

General  Sprague,  by  his  good  generalship  and  hard  fight 
ing,  saved  the  trains  of  the  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth  and  Seven 
teenth  Corps  at  Decatur  and  en  route  from  Roswell  to  the 
army.  The  trains  on  the  march  were  guarded  by  the  Ninth 
Illinois,  and  the  Forty-third  Ohio,  which  regiments,  upon 
their  arrival  at  Decatur,  went  promptly  into  the  action. 

The  Sixteenth  Corps,  at  the  time  of  Hood's  attack,  was  in 
the  rear  of  the  Fifteenth  and  Seventeenth  Corps,  stretched  out 
upon  a  common  wagon  road.  Three  Brigades  disposed  in 
single  line,  numbering  about  forty-five  hundred  men  and  not 
in  line  with  the  other  Corps,  had  met  the  attack  of  the  rebel 
army,  staggered  it  at.  the  first  onset,  and  driven  it  back  with 
great  slaughter,  leaving  the  dead  and  wounded  of  the  enemy  in 
our  hands. 

Any  failure  of  the  part  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps  to  check  the 
enemy's  advance  when  he  was  already  in  our  rear  and  certain 
of  success,  would  have  been  disastrous  to  the  whole  Army  of 
the  Tennessee.  The  fortunate  topography  of  the  ground,  the 
intelligence  of  the  commanders,  and  the  alacrity  and  bravery 
of  the  troops,  enabled  us  to  take  advantage  of  the  confusion 
created  in  the  enemy's  ranks,  on  finding  this  Corps  prepared 
for  attack,  and  to  rout  the  enemy. 

The  disparity  of  the  forces  can  be  seen  from  the  fact  that 
in  the  charge  made  by  the  two  Brigades  under  Fuller  and 
Mersey,  they  took  351  prisoners,  representing  forty-nine  dif 
ferent  regiments,  eight  Brigades,  and  three  Divisions.  These 
two  Brigades  brought  back  eight  battle  flags  from  the  enemy. 


218  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

After  the  fight,  422  of  the  enemy's  dead  were  buried  in 
my  front,  and  large  numbers  of  the  wounded  were  cared  for  in 
my  hospitals.  The  Sixteenth  Corps  suffered  terribly  in  the 
Battle  of  Atlanta.  Their  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  854 
out  of  5,400  men  engaged,  and  nearly  every  field  officer  of  my 
command  was  killed  or  wounded. 

I   am,   General,   very   respectfully,   your  obedient   servant, 

G.  M.  DODGE, 

Council  Bluffs,  Iowa.  Maj.  Gen.  U.  S.  A. 

November  30,  1875. 

There  had  been,  at  many  meetings  of  the  Society  of  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee,  discussions  of  the  Battle  of  Shiloh, 
and  at  £  meeting  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  in  Cincinnati, 
April  6,  1891,  General  Sherman  gave  his  views  as  follows : 

Comrades  and  Friends  : 

We  are  again  assembled,  pursuant  to  adjournment  of  our 
last  meeting  in  Chicago,  and  according  to  the  constitution  of 
our  Society.  It  Avas  once  said  that  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee 
could  safely  meet  on  any  day  of  the  year,  and  that  day  would 
prove  to  be  an  anniversary  of  some  one  of  our  battles,  but  it 
is  plain  to  me  that  the  local  committee  has  chosen  this  particu 
lar  day  because  it  is  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Shiloh, 
which  gave  us  much  of  the  fame  of  which  we,  the  survivors, 
believe  we  have  just  reasons  to  be  proud. 

Nineteen  years  ago  tonight  we  lay  on  the  bare  ground  in 
heavy  rain,  after  a  bloody  battle,  to  steal  a  few  hours  of  rest 
and  sleep,  certain  the  next  day  to  renew  a  struggle  which,  for 
better  or  worse,  was  to  have  a  tremendous  influence  on  the 
history  of  our  race. 

I  do  not  intend  to  enter  on  a  narrative  of  events,  for  I  have 
already  done  that  in  print ;  nor  do  I  wish  to  revive  any  of  the 
controversies  to  which  that  great  battle  has  given  rise,  like 
Waterloo,  Gettysburg,  Koniggratz,  and  hundreds  of  others, 
but  simply  to  ask  your  indulgence  for  the  few  minutes  of 
time  allotted  to  me,  to  illustrate  some  of  the  minor  phases  com 
mon  to  all  battles. 

In  Badeau's  Military  History  we  have  recorded,  substantial 
ly.  General  Grant's  account  of  the  antecedent  events,  and  of 
the  battle  itself.  In  Volume  7  of  the  United  States  Military 
Reports  of  the  Rebellion,  compiled  by  Colonel  R  N.  Scott,  we 
have  two  hundred  and  thirty-four  pages  of  the  official  re 
ports  of  the  commanders  of  divisions,  brigades,  regiments  and 
detachments;  and  in  Volume  3,  part  one,  of  the  same  compila 
tion,  we  have  two  hundred  and  forty-eight  pages  of  the  Con- 


PERSONAL  BECOLLECTIONS  or  SHERMAN.  219 

federate  reports  of  the  same  battle.  Besides  these,  I  have  in 
the  course  of  my  official  life  examined  thousands  of  pages  of 
other  manuscript  matter,  all  more  or  less  bearing  upon  this 
particular  battle,  and  my  conclusion  is  that  General  Badeau's 
condensed  account  is  as  near  the  exact  truth  as  history  will 
likely  reach ;  and  that  my  own  account  is  good  enough  to  stand 
by — being  the  exact  truth  from  my  own  standpoint. 

These  varied  accounts  of  the  same  general  event  illustrate 
what  has  been  remarked  by  every  -lawyer — that  the  best  wit 
nesses,  testifying  in  court,  will  describe  the  same  thing  differ 
ently,  just  as  every  landscape  in  nature  presents  a  different 
aspect  from  each  point  of  the  compass.  Every  man  naturally 
exaggerates  the  importance  of  what  he  himself  has  done  and 
seen,  and  correspondingly  depreciates  that  of  which  he  saw 
nothing:  and  it  is  perfectly  consistent  with  truth  that  those 
who  were  near  Shiloh  church  on  the  eventful  days  of  April  6 
and  7,  1862,  should  vary,  in  their  narrative  of  events,  from 
those  who  remained  at  the  steamboat  landing,  three  miles 
away ;  or  the  more  intelligent  and  disinterested  observers  who 
wrote  from  their  offices  at  Paducah  and  Cairo,  two  hundred 
miles  away.  Yet  for  our  present  purpose  it  is  sufficient  for  us 
to  know  that  on  the  6th  of  April,  1862,  five  Divisions  of  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee  were  encamped  in  the  woods  back  of 
Pittsburg  Landing  on  the  upper  Tennessee  river;  that  our 
numbers  were  about  32,000  men :  that  we  were  attacked  furi 
ously  by  the  rebel  army,  ably  commanded,  composed  of  at 
least  42,000  men;  that  we  fought  unaided  during  all  that  day: 
were  beaten  back  step  by  step,  till  at  night  we  formed  two 
sides  of  a  rectangle,  the  right  covering  Snake  Creek  bridge,  and 
the  left  a  ravine  about  the  steam-boat  landing;  that  we  were 
not  beaten  or  demoralized,  but  were  abandoned  by  many  of 
our  comrades  and  dreadfully  exhausted,  with  nine  thousand 
of  our  comrades  dead  or  mangled  on  the  field,  mingled  with 
an  equal  number  of  our  foes;  that  during  that  night  we  were 
reinforced  by  Lew  Wallace's  Division  of  our  own  army,  and 
by  three -Divisions  of  Buell's  Army  of  the  Ohio,  just  arrived 
from  Nashville,  and  that  on  the  next  day  we  swept  the  field 
and  gained  a  glorious  victory  for  our  country,  the  moral  effect 
of  w^hich  lasted  throughout  the  war. 

Notwithstanding  that  we  now  have  the  official  statements 
of  the  chief  actors  in  that  drama,  I  am  conscious  that  some 
of  the  good  people  of  Cincinnati  prefer  to  believe  the  first  ac 
count  of  their  own  ''reporters  on  the  spot,"  viz,  at  Paducah 
and  Cairo,  who  gathered  their  knowledge  from  fugitives  and 
deserters;  yet  we,  who  remained  to  the  last,  prefer  to  believe 
each  other;  and  in  this  connection  I  propose  to  recount  some 
of  the  smaller  episodes  not  heretofore  given. 


220  PERSONAL  BECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

General  James  H.  Wilson,  who  commanded  a  Cavalry 
Corps  about  the  end  of  the  war,  tells  of  his  once  approaching 
the  heads  of  his  column,  engaged  in  a  noisy  skirmish,  when  he 
met  one  of  his  men  hurrying  back  to  the  rear,  evidently  de 
moralized.  He  called  on  him  to  halt,  and  commenced  calling 
him  hard  names,  among  others,  "coward."  The  man  protest 
ed  he  was  not  a  coward,  but  insisted  that  "he  had  lost  confi 
dence  in  his  Colonel."  So  at  Shiloh,  some  men  lost  faith  in 
their  colonels  and  naturally  justified  themselves  by  decrying 
their  commanders. 

My  camp,  or  bivouac,  was  .on  a  small  hill  near  the  old  log 
house  called  "Shiloh  Meeting  House,"  which  gave  name  to 
the  battle.  We  had  a  colored  man  called  "Bustamente,"  who 
was  our  cook,  and  looked  after  our  horses.  I  remember  that 
morning  well ;  we  all  mounted  our  horses  after  an  early  break 
fast  and  started  to  the  front.  The  battle  soon  began  and  none 
of  us  had  much  time  to  think  of  our  camp  afterwards.  Dur 
ing  all  that  day  we  fought,  and  night  found  us  a  mile  to  the 
rear  of  our  camp,  which  was  in  possession  of  our  enemy.  The 
next  day  we  gained  ground  steadily,  and  about  4  P.  M.  I 
was  again  on  horseback  close  by  our  old  camp ;  the  tents  were 
still  standing,  though  riddled  with  bullets.  At  the  picket 
rope  in  front  lay  two  of  my  horses,  dead.  Dead  bodies  of  men 
in  blue  and  gray  lay  around  thick,  side  by  side,  and  scraps 
of  paper  show  what  was  the  fact — that  Beauregard,  Brecken- 
ridge  and  Bragg,  old  personal  friends,  had  slept  the  night  be 
fore  in  my  camp,  and  had  carried  away  my  scanty  bedding. 
That  night  of  the  7th,  as  I  lay  side  by  side  with  the  dead,  I 
wondered  what  had  become  of  Bustamente. 

His  dead  body  was  not  there;  he  was  neither  "present  or 
accounted  for."  Several  days  passed,  and  we  had  become 
convinced  that  our  enemy  had  gone,  and  gone  in  disorder  and 
retreat.  But  where  was  Bustamente  ?  About  five  days  after 
the  battle,  returning  from  an  extensive  reconnoissance,  tired 
and  weary,  who  should  appear  but  the  veritable  Bustamente 
himself,  radiant  and  undoubtedly  happy  to  resume  his  place  as 
cook  and  hostler.  "Where  have  you  been,  you  old  rascal?" 
"Why,  master,  this  was  no  place  for  sich  as  me ;  I  done  git  out, 
cotched  a  steamboat  and  went  to  Paducah;  heard  you  was  all 
right  again  and  here  I  is."  And  there  he  was,  sure  enough,  and 
he  served  us  well  for  many  a  weary  month  afterward.  I  think 
Bustamente  was  not  only  right,  but  reasonably  prudent.  The 
6th  of  April,  1862,  was  not  a  healthy  place  for  "sich  as  he," 
but  for  some  others  I  can  never  be  as  charitable. 

My  aide-de-camp,  General  Sanger,  also  had  a  colored 
servant  whom  he  had  brought  from  Illinois,  who  stayed  near 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 


us  all  that  day  —  generally  availed  himself  of  the  cover  of  a 
good  sized  tree,  but  I  recall  with  gratitude  that  at  night  he 
came  to  us  with  some  hard  biscuit  and  boiled  pork,  which  he 
said  he  had  found  in  McArthur's  camp.  Again  the  next  day, 
April  7,  he  FOUND  in  some  sutler's  camp  a  big  cheese,  which 
he  brought  to  us  and  spread  out  on  a  log;  which  cheese  formed 
the  basis  of  a  claim  against  Uncle  Sam  for  loyal  property  ap 
propriated  by  the  army  in  the  subsistence  of  his  troops,  and 
for  the  evidence  of  which  that  sutler  persecuted  me  for  years 
afterwards. 

There  is  no  movement  laid  down  in  tactics  so  intricate  and 
skillful  as  the  "zigzag"  that  boy  would  perform  in  coming 
from  the  rear  to  the  front  with  a  cigar,  or  anything  called  for  ; 
down  behind  a  log,  then  a  bee  line  for  a  big  tree,  a  good  peep 
around  the  corner,  then  a  run  for  another  tree,  till  he  was  in 
sight  of  the  party  sought  for,  when  signals  were  begun.  We 
have  always  given  General  Albert  Meyer  the  credit  of  being 
the  author  of  our  system  of  army  signals,  vulgarly  known  as 
the  "Wig-wag,"  but  I  must  testify  that  Sanger's  boy  prac 
ticed  them  in  the  woods  at  Shiloh  before  any  of  us  had  ever 
heard  of  the  army  signal  service. 

For  some  days  after  the  Battle  of  Shiloh,  and  during  the 
march  to  Corinth,  my  camp  was  often  visited  by  my  old  class 
mate  and  friend,  George  H.  Thomas,  and  his  staff,  and  it  was 
as  good  as  a  farce,  when  at  table,  to  watch  that  boy  hand  to 
Thomas  quicker  than  Signor  Blitz,  and  Lagow  and  the  Staff 
rarely  managed  to  get  anything  else  than  "commissary," 
whilst  Thomas  and  his  favorites  always  got  the  best  in  .camp. 

In  the  very  crisis  of  the  battle  of  April  16,  about  4  o'clock 
P.  M.,  when  my  Division  occupied  the  line  from  Snake  Creek 
bridge  to  the  forks  of  the  Corinth  and  Purdy  road,  there  oc 
curred  an  incident  I  have  never  seen  recorded.  Birge's  sharp 
shooters  or  "Squirrel-tail's"  occupied  the  stables,  granaries 
and  house  near  the  bridge  as  a  strong  flank.  My  Division 
occupied  a  double  line  from  it,  along  what  had  once  been  a 
lane,  with  its  fences  thrown  down  and  the  blackberry  and  sas 
safras  bushes  still  marking  the  border  of  an  open  cotton  field 
in  front,  and  the  left  was  a  ravine  near  which  Major  Ezra 
Taylor  had  assembled  some  ten  or  twelve  guns.  This  ravine 
was  densely  wooded  and  extended  to  the  front  nearly  two 
hundred  yards,  and  I  feared  it  might  be  occupied  by  the 
enemy,  who,  from  behind  the  trees,  could  drive  the  gunners 
from  their  posts.  I  ordered  the  Colonel  of  one  of  my  regiments 
to  occupy  that  ravine  to  anticipate  the  enemy,  but  he  did  not 
quickly  catch  my  meaning  or  comprehend  the  tactics  by  which 
he  could  fulfill  my  purpose.  I  remember  well  that  Colonel 
Thomas  W.  Sweeney,  a  one-armed  officer  who  had  lost  an  arm 


222 PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

in  the  Mexican  war,  but  did  not  belong  to  my  command,  stood 
near  by  and  quickly  spoke  up:  "I  understand  perfectly  what 
you  want,  let  me  do  it."  "Certainly,"  said  I.  "Sweeney, 
go  at  once  and  occupy  that  ravine,  converting  it  into  a  regular 
bastion."  He  "did  it,  and  I  attach  more  importance  to  that 
event  than  to  any  of  the  hundred  single  achievements  which 
I  have  since  heard  "saved  the  day,"  for  we  held  that  line  and 
ravine  all  night,  and  the  next  morning  advanced  from  there  to 
certain  victory. 

In  like  manner,  on  the  8th,  when  I  was  ordered  by  Gen 
eral  Grant  to  move  forward  with  one  of  my  own  Brigades  and 
another  of  Thomas  3.  Wood's  Division  of  the  Army  of  the 
Ohio,  to  ascertain  if  the  rebel  army  had  actually  retreated  to 
Corinth,  or  were  simply  repairing  damages  to  renew  the  at 
tack,  I  led  in  person  Hildegrand's  Brigade.  We  reached, 
about  six  miles  out,  an  old  cotton  field  with  deadened  timber 
standing,  fences  all  down,  and  mud  in  the  road  and  in  the 
plowed  field  ankle  deep.  Seeing  ahead  a  large  number  of 
tents  with  men  and  horses  moving  about,  I  concluded  to  de 
ploy  a  couple  of  companies  of  the  leading  regiment  forward 
at  "five  paces  interval,"  with  the  remaining  eight  companies 
in  line  to  support,  leaving  the  rest  of  the  Brigade  to  follow 
along  the  road  by  the  flank.  I  gave  the  orders  in  person,  and 
the  Colonel  confessed  that  he  knew  not  what  T  wanted  or  how 
to  perform  so  simple  a  tactical  maneuver.  Thus  were  we 
forced  to  teach  tactics  on  the  very  field  of  battle.  Fortunately, 
Major  Fearing,  now  a  citizen  of  Cincinnati,  spoke  out,  "I 
know  what  you  want  and  can  do  it,"  and  promptly  he  de 
ployed  the  leading  companies  as  "skirmishers,"  by  the  right 
flank  across  that  old  cotton  field,  with  the  remainder  of  the 
regiment  in  line  following  in  support.  As  we  approached  the 
ridge,  down  came  with  a  yell,  Forrest's  cavalry  firing  right 
and  left  with  pistols,  over  the  skirmish  line,  over  the  supports, 
and  right  in  among  me  and  my  staff.  Fortunately,  I  had  sent 
my  adjutant,  Hammond,  back  to  have  the  Brigade  come  for 
ward  into  line  quickly.  My  aide-de-camp,  McCoy,  was 
knocked  down,  horse  and  rider,  into  the  mud ;  but  T  and  the 
rest  of  my  staff  ingloriously  fled,  pell  mell  through  the  mud, 
closely  followed  by  Forrest  and  his  men,  with  pistols  already 
emptied.  We  sought  safety  behind  the  Brigade  in  the  act  of 
forming  "forward  into  line"  and  Forrest  and  his  followers 
were  in  turn  "surprised"  by  a  fire  of  the  Brigade,  which  emp 
tied  many  a  saddle,  and  gave  Forrest  himself  a  painful  wound, 
but  he  escaped  to  the  woods  on  the  south  of  the  road.  We 
promptly  moved  the  whole  Brigade  in  line  of  battle  over  that 
cotton  field  to  the  ridge,  and  captured  the  LAST  of  the  rebel 
hospitals  in  charge  of  Surgeon  Lyle. 


PERSONAL  BECQLLECTIQNS  OF  SHERMAN. 223 

McCoy  came  in  afterwards,  covered  with  mud,  but  in  pos 
session  of  a  jaded  horse  which  he  had  picked  up,  different  from 
his  own,  but  there  was  no  one  to  question  his  title,  and  on 
the  whole  he  concluded  he  had  got  the  best  of  the  bargain. 

All  who  were  with  riie  on  that  8th  of  April  will  recall  the 
scenes  of  desolation  and  misery  we  beheld  by  the  roadside  and 
at  the  hospital  camp  of  Surgeon  Lyle.  "Wagons  hauling  in 
dead  men  and  dumping  them  on  the  ground,  as  cordwood,  for 
burial  in  long  trenches,  like  sardines  in  a  box.  Wounded  men 
with  mangled  legs  and  arms,  and  heads  half  shot  away,  hor 
rible  to  behold,  and  still  more  wounded  appealing  for  water, 
and  for  help  in  any  form.  If  there  be  any  lesson  I  would  im 
press  on  the  young  of  today  it  would  be  to  warn  them  against 
the  men  who  make  war  necessary;  men  who,  like  Jeff  Davis, 
Yancy  and  Toombs,  usually  arouse  the  passions  and  prejudices 
of  their  fellow  mortals  'til  war  becomes  a  necessity,  whilst 
they,  the  real  cause,  hold  back  and  leave  their  deluded  fol 
lowers  to  catch  all  the  blows  and  buffets  of  the  storm  which 
they  had  no  hand  in  creating.  I  wish  that  some  man,  Dr. 
Lyle  himself,  would  paint  in  true  and  graphic  colors,  what 
he  saw  and  endured  on  that  8th  day  of  April,  1862,  on  the 
ridge  behind  Pittsburg  Landing,  for  I  believe  it  would  be  bet 
ter  warning  against  war  in  the  future  than  all  the  humiliations 
of  Appomattox  and  Greensboro. 

I  have  seen  Forrest  since  the  war ;  have  talked  with  him 
about  this  very  matter,  and  he  explained  that  he  was  left  be 
hind  by  Breckenridge  to  protect  this  hospital  camp,  and  if 
possible  to  check  the  pursuit  of  our  forces,  which  was  natur 
ally  expected  after  the  close  of  the  Battle  of  Shiloh.  I  am 
sure  that  had  he  not  emptied  his  pistols  before  he  passed  the 
skirmish  line,  my  career  would  have  ended  right  there! 

War  has  its  ludicrous,  its  farcial  features,  as  well  as  every 
day  life.  Everyone  can  at  this  distance  of  time  recall  events 
at  which  he  laughed  as  heartily  as  he  ever  mourned  the  death 
of  a  comrade.  I  remember  today  the  expression  on  the  face  of 
an  Arkansas  ranger,  brought  in  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  leading  a 
sorrel  mare  into  our  camp  near  Corinth.  When  led  up  to  me 
he  said,  "General,  he  (pointing  to  the  guard)  fooled  me;  he 
had  on  a  white  hat,  and  called  out,  'come  over  here;'  I  came 
over,  and  he  said,  'you  are  my  prisoner.'  :  It  was  the  white 
hat  that  caught  him.  Then  the  Arkansas  man  said:  "Gen 
eral,  you  are  not  going  to  take  my  horse,  are  you?"  "Certain 
ly,''  I  said,  "your  horse  is  captured  property."  "But  it  is  a 
race  horse,"  said  he.  "All  the  better,"  said  I,  and  I  think  one 
of  my  staff-officers  rode  that  same  sorrel  mare  many  hundred 
miles  afterwards,  but  I  never  saw  that  ranger  again.  The 
provost  marshal  took  him  in. 


224:  PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

All  reliable  accounts  agree  that  General  C.  F.  Smith  post 
ed  the  army  at  Pittsburg  Landing  to  fulfill  General  Halleck's 
instructions  of  March  1st,  1862 ;  that  General  U.  S.  Grant  suc 
ceeded  to  the  command,  and  exercised  it  at  the  time  of  the 
battle,  and  that  Division  commanders  ranked  in  the  order  of 
McClernand,  Lew  Wallace,  Sherman,  Hurlburt,  Prentiss  and 
W.  H.  L.  Wallace;  yet  I  am  often  held  responsible  by  the 
critics  for  the  "surprise  and  stampede"  of  the  fugitives,  al 
though  it  is  equally  well  known  that  McPherson  and  I  had 
previously  reconnoitered  the  country  forward  for  ten  miles 
and  had  been  skirmishing  with  the  enemy  for  several  days 
prior  to  the  battle.  I  have  never  been  in  battle  but  what  some 
body  was  surprised.  A  good  many  persons  were  surprised  at 
Shiloh,  but  there  were  none  but  what  had  a  fair  notice  to  be 
ready  for  anything — for  everything  that  might  happen,  and  the 
report  that  anybody  was  bayonetted  in  bed  has  long  since  been 
exploded.  Prentiss'  Division  and  mine  were  in  the  extreme 
front — were  all  ready  when  the-  blow  came,  and  all  the  others 
were  behind  us  and  had  ample  time  for  preparation.  The  sim 
ple  truth  is  that  we  were  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Tennessee 
with  a  purpose  to  attack  the  enemy's  position  at  Corinth;  that 
General  Buell's  army  of  the  Ohio  was  marching  from  Nash 
ville  to  reinforce  us,  and  that  the  rebel  general,  Albert  Sydney 
Johnston,  resolved  not  to  wait  our  attack  on  Corinth,  but  to 
attack  us  before  Buell  could  arrive. 

His  army  was  divided  into  three  Corps,  commanded  by 
Polk,  Bragg  and  Hardee,  with  reserve  commanded  by  Breck- 
enridge.  His  object  was  to  capture  or  destroy  us  before  these 
reinforcements  could  arrive.  He  failed  in  this  most  signally, 
and  therefore  to  us  belonged  the  victory — a  victory  little  ap 
preciated  at  that  time,  and  not  fully  comprehended  today. 
But  that  victory  was  one  of  the  most  important  which  has 
ever  occurred  on  this  continent.  It  dissipated  forever  that 
nonsense  of  one  southern  man  whipping  "a  dozen  Yankees." 
It  gave  us  the  prestige,  which  we  had  only  to  follow  up,  as  we 
did  at  Corinth,  at  luka,  at  Vicksburg,  Chattanooga,  Atlanta, 
Columbia  and  Raleigh — yea,  to  the  end  of  the  war,  to  assure 
absolute  success. 

I  have  always  estimated  the  victories  of  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee  at  Fort  Donelson  and  Shiloh  as  the  most  valuable 
of  all,  because  of  their  moral  effect.  They  gave  our  men 
confidence  in  themselves,  and  in  a  corresponding  degree  shook 
the  confidence  of  southern  men  in  their  own  prowess,  for  at 
no  subsequent  battle  did  they  ever  attack  with  as  much  vehem 
ence  and  perseverance  as  they  did  on  the  morning  of  April  6. 
The  battle  of  Shiloh  was  the  precursor  of  many  subsequent 
victories  which  ended,  as  all  the  world  knows,  in  the 


PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  225 

TRIUMPH  of  our  arms  and  of  our  cause,  so  that  we  have 
reason  to  assemble  here  tonight  in  commemoration  of  that 
eventful  battle. 

General  H.  W.  Halleck  at  that  time  was  in  chief  command 
over  all  the  armies  in  the  West,  with  his  headquarters  in  St. 
Louis,  but  soon  after,  he  came  to  Shiloh  in  person  with  many 
able  and  experienced  staff-officers,  among  them  Colonel  George 
Thorn,  then  and  now  of  the  engineer's  corps.  He  caused  the 
battlefield  to  be  surveyed,  and  his  map  is  still  the  standard  one. 
But  Colonel  Thorn  was  not  present  before  or  during  the  bat 
tle.  I  am  convinced  he  has  located  on  his  map  the  several 
Divisions  incorrectly.  I  know  such  is  the  case  with  regard  to 
my  own,  and  believe  so  in  regard  to  others,  and,  therefore,  I 
have  had  prepared  a  tracing  of  this  map  and  have  located  the 
troops  as  I  believe  they  were  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  the 
first  day.  The  map,  as  thus  modified,  tells  the  story  of  the 
battle. 

The  many  roads  indicated  on  this  map  did  not  exist  at  the 
time  we  first  reached  Pittsburg  Landing,  nor  at  the  time  of 
the  battle.  Then  there  was  but  one  single  road — the  Corinth 
road,  which  reached  the  river,  affording  room  for  only  four 
or  five  boats  to  unload,  but  as  other  boats  accumulated,  other 
roads  were  improvised  up  the  hill  from  the  water's  edge  to  the 
general  plateau  above,  and  new  roads  were  made  by  the  wag 
oners  hauling  supplies  from  the  boats  to  the  several  camps.  All 
these  roads  as  marked  on  the  maps  were  mud  roads ;  not  roads 
at  all  in  a  military  sense,  but  simply  open  ways  by  which  six 
mules  could  haul  about  a  ton  of  freight  from  the  river  to  the 
camps.  The  general  plateau,  excepting  the  cleared  fields,  was 
wooded  with  oak,  maple  and  hickory,  the  latter  in  some  places 
so  thick  that  there  was  real  difficulty  in  forcing  one's  way 
through  on  horseback. 

I  know  there  are  many  present  in  this  room  tonight  who 
can  verify  the  changes  I  suggest,  and  I  will  leave  this  traced 
map  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Society  for  future  use. 

General  Sherman  and  his  army  were  very  often  criticised 
for  acts  said  to  be  committed  by  stragglers,  such  as  pillaging, 
robbery,  etc.  If  this  was  true,  it  was  absolutely  against  all  the 
orders.  General  Sherman  held  to  the  policy,  that  in  the 
enemy's  country,  where  necessary,  they  should  live  off  of  the 
country,  and  he  had  full  precedent  in  this  by  every  other  na 
tion. 

The  English  were  very  critical  in  this  matter,  but  anyone 


226  PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

can  read  of  the  campaign  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  who  prac 
ticed  and  upheld  this  policy.  He  followed  it  in  Portugal  and 
Spain.  Writing  to  the  Earl  of  Liverpool,  February  23,  1811, 
he  says : 

The  French  have  shown  throughout  the  war  in  the  Penin 
sula,  but  particularly  in  the  last  campaign  in  Portugal,  that 
they  operate  on  the  flank  and  rear  and  communications  of 
their  enemy,  never  having  any  anxiety  about  their  own.  And 
this  system  is  the  consequence  of  the  mode  in  which  they  sub 
sist  their  army. 

They  plunder  everything  they  find  in  the  country,  every 
article,  whether  of  food  or  raiment,  and  every  animal  and 
vehicle  of  every  description  is  considered  to  belong  of  right 
and  without  payment  to  the  French  army. 

His  campaigns  were  noted  for  the  pillaging  of  his  soldiers 
and  the  living  off  of  the  country. 

Napoleon  quartered  his  armies  on  the  enemy  and  subsisted 
off  of  the  country.  Germany,  Austria  and  Russia  did  the  same, 
but  they  did  not  do  it  in  as  orderly  a  manner  or  under  such 
strict  instruction  as  Sherman's  army  did. 

General  Sherman  says  in  answer  to  these  criticisms : 

The  Army  of  the  Tennessee  traversed  the  land  from  Padu- 
cah  to  Memphis,  and  from  Vicksburg  to  Washington,  inland, 
a  distance  of  more  than  two  thousand  miles  of  country,  sparse 
ly  populated,  with  families  wide  apart,  the  male  members  of 
which  were  in  the  ranks  of  our  opposing  armies,  and  in  the 
two  years — 1864-65 — I  heard  of  but  two  cases  of  rape.  Again, 
all  the  able-bodied  white  men  of  the  South  were  in  the  arm 
ies  of  the  Confederacy,  far  away  from  their  homes,  leaving 
their  families  to  the  care  of  the  black  slaves.  Now  I  do  not 
know  a  single  instance  where  the  females  of  any  family  were 
abused  by  the  blacks.  These  black  slaves  labored  for  their 
master's  wives  and  daughters,  protected  them,  and  never,  to 
my  knowledge,  in  a  single  instance  violated  that  sacred  trust, 
although  they  well  understood  that  our  success  would  be  their 
freedom,  and  the  success  of  their  masters  would  doom  them 
to  another  long  period  of  slavery.  If  for  no  other  reason  than 
this,  every  southern  gentleman,  every  soutnern  man  who 
claims  to  be  a  descendant  of  the  proud  Chevaliers  and  Huge- 
nots,  should  honor  the  black  man  for  his  fidelity  in  that  dread 


PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  227 

period;  should  protect  him  in  all  his  acquired  rights,  and  aid 
him  to  rise  to  the  scale  of  social  and  political  life.  It  is  dif 
ficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  bring  force  to  bear  on  the  individual 
living  in  a  prejudiced  community,  as  for  instance  in  Utah,  and 
in  the  South,  where  slavery  had  made  the  common  white  citizen 
(the  juryman)  regard  the  negro  as  necessarily  his  inferior, 
because  no  man  in  this  country  can  be  punished  for  crime, 
save  on  presentment  by  the  Grand.  Jury,  and  after  trial  by  a 
pettit  jury  on  the  vicinage.  This,  our  Constitution,  our  funda 
mental  law,  which  the  President,  Congress  and  all  the  courts 
must  enforce,  was  unquestionably  meant  by  our  forefathers 
to  protect  the  weak  against  the  strong,  but  now  it  shelters  the 
guilty  against  the  humane  purposes  of  the  law.  Prejudices 
will,  however,  gradually  disappear;  they  have  largely  disap 
peared  in  our  day,  and  we  who  believe  in  the  triumph  of  ab 
stract,  have  faith  that  the  day  will  come,  in  good  time,  when 
all  men  will  be  absolutely  and  perfectly  equal  before  the  law. 
Time  is  the  great  physician,  and  we  who  can  compare  the  state 
of  feeling  and  of  facts  in  1861,  can  measure  the  future  by  this 
scale  of  twenty  years,  and  thereby  prognosticate  what  will  be 
the  probable  state  of  feeling  and  of  facts  in  this,  our  country, 
at  the  end  of  the  present  century.  We  believe  that  history  will 
adjudge  the  Civil  War  to  have  been  not  only  one  of  the  great 
est,  but  one  of  the  best  wars  that  ever  occurred  on  earth,  and 
that  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  accomplished  a  large  share  in 
its  beneficient  results. 

On  December  21,  1884,  Colonel  F.  D.  Grant  informed  me 
that  he  had  just  come  from  Dr.  Fordyce  Baker,  who  told  him 
that  his  father  could  not  live  long;  perhaps  a  month  or  two; 
perhaps  not  so  long.  He  said  that  Governor  Fish  and  Dr. 
Newman  were  the  only  ones  that  knew  it.  I  was  thunder 
struck,  for  only  the  Sunday  before  I  was  at  the  house,  and 
the  General  looked  fairly  well,  though  I  knew  he  was  much 
distressed. 

I  told  Colonel  Grant  that  Sherman  was  in  the  city,  and 
suggested  going  down  and  telling  him  how  sick  his  father  was, 
and  have  him  see  him.  We  went  to  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel 
and  found  General  Sherman,  who  said  he  was  in  good  health; 
was  troubled  some  with  asthma,  but  was  full  of  work,  attend 
ing  to  meetings,  etc.,  etc.  Colonel  Fred  said  to  General  Sher 
man  : 


22S  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

I  think  my  father's  history  tells  more  of  what  you  did  than 
your  own  Memoirs. 

Sherman  said : 

Well,  when  Grant  writes  anything  we  can  all  depend  on 
getting  the  facts.  When  he  writes  and  says  himself  what  was 
done,  and  what  he  saw,  no  soldier  need  fear;  but  when  others 
write  what  he  does  and  says,  it  is  not  always  so. 

Colonel  Fred  said  he  had  been  having  considerable  trouble 
with  the  publishers  or  editors  of  the  Century,  wTho  were  to 
publish  the  war  articles,  Shiloh,  Vicksburg,  Wilderness  and 
Appomattox,  and  that  they  had  made  his  father  very  angry; 
that  they  wanted  him  to  change  the  word  Rebel  in  his  article 
to  Confederate  and  the  word  Union  to  Federal.  He  said  that 
finally  General  Grant  wrote  a  short  letter  demanding  that  his 
articles  be  published  as  written.  Fred  further  said  that  his 
father  had  written  three  articles,  but  that  he  did  not  believe 
he  would  write  any  more.  Sherman  said : 

This  trying  to  soften  treason  by  expunging  the  words  of 
the  General  was  wrong,  and  that  if  it  kept  on,  pretty  soon  the 
sons  of  Southern  soldiers  would  consider  it  as  much  of  an 
honor  that  their  fathers  fought  under  Lee  as  the  sons  of 
Union  soldiers  that  their  fathers  fought  under  Grant;  that  the 
line  of  Union  and  Rebel,  of  loyalty  and  treason,  should  be  al 
ways  kept  distinct. 

I  remarked : 

As  long  as  our  friends  live  it  will,  but  the  tendency  all  the 
time  is  to  wipe  out  history ;  to  forget  it ;  to  forgive,  excuse  and 
soften,  and  wrhen  all  the  soldiers  pass  from  this  age  it  will  be 
easy  to  slip  into  the  idea  that  one  side  was  as  good  as  the 
other.  ^ 

Sherman  said : 

It  was  a  conspiracy  until  Sumpter  was  fired  upon,  after  that 
it  was  a  rebellion. 

Governor  Woodford  came  in  and  Sherman  related  to  him 
what  Fred  Grant  had  said,  but  Woodford  made  no  response. 
Fred  also  said  his  father  had  written  his  life  from  bovhood  to 


PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN.  229 

Donelson;  had  written  Shiloh,  Vicksburg,  Granada,  Chatta 
nooga,  and  the  inarch  of  Sherman  from  Memphis  to  Chatta 
nooga,  and  the  Wilderness;  said  his  father  had  omitted  writ 
ing  for  four  days.  He  asked  me  to  come  up  and  see  his  father 
evenings. 

AY  hen  you  compare  these  statements  existing  then  with  the 
leniency  that  exists  today,  you  can  see  what  a  marked  change 
there  is. 

Virginia  has  placed  in  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol  in  AVash- 
ington,  the  statue  of  General  Lee,  without  any  protest  or  criti 
cism  from  the  citizens,  and  with  only  an  occasional  criticism 
from  the  veterans. 

During  a  trip  from  New  York  to  Cincinnati,  to  attend  a 
meeting  of  the  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  the  ques 
tion  of  the  transcontinental  lines  came  up,  and  Sherman  ex 
pressed  a  wish  that  when  the  lines  from  Portland,  Oregon, 
which  were  being  constructed  by  way  of  Tacoma  and  Seattle, 
and  so  on  north  to  the  Canadian  Pacific  were  completed,  we 
could  make  a  trip,  starting  from  New  York  and  going  by  way 
of  California,  and  thence  north  and  back  by  way  of  the  Cana 
dian  Pacific,  ending  our  trip  and  making  the  circle  complete 
in  New  York.  I  said  to  him  : 

General,  whenever  that  connection  is  made  I  will  take  a 
car  and  we  will  make  the  trip.  You  shall  select  your  party.  I 
have  never  seen  the  Canadian  Pacific,  and  I  will  wait  and  go 
with  you. 

A  short  time  before  he  died,  in  1891,  he  was  in  my  office 
in  NewT  York,  and  was  standing  at  the  window  looking  at 
the  grand  view  of  New  York  bay.  He  said  to  me:  "Dodge, 
have  you  noticed  that  that  line  between  Seattle  and  the  Ca 
nadian  Pacific  is  nearly  completed?"  I  answered  and  said,  "I 
had  not,  but  when  it  is  I  am  ready  to  make  the  trip." 

While  he  lay  dead  in  New  York  the  connection  of  those 
lines  was  made.  It  was  the  only  thing  which  he  seemed  to 


230  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

express  a  great  desire  to  accomplish  before  he  rounded  out 
his  life,  and  it  is  the  regret  of  my  life  that  he  was  unable  to 
do  so.  I  left  New  York  a  few  days  afterward. 

General  Sherman  died  February  14,  1891.  I  had  left  him 
only  a  week  before,  when  he  appeared  to  me  perfectly  well. 
I  was  en  route  to  the  Pacific  coast,  attending  to  my  duties, 
.when  at  Omaha  I  received  a  dispatch  from  his  family,  telling 
me  (•!'  his  death  and  requesting  my  return. 

1  immediately  returned  to  New  York  and  went  directly  to 
the  family,  and  found  that  the  funeral  arrangements  were  un 
der  the  direction  of  Major-General  Henry  C.  Slocum  and 
Major-General  0.  0.  Howard,  both  of  whom  had  been  Army 
and  Corps  commanders  in  General  Sherman's  army. 

He  was  given  a  military  funeral,  the  procession  being  under 
the  command  of  Major-General  0.  0.  Howard,  commanding 
the  Department  of  the  East,  and  the  pallbearers  were  Major- 
Generals  J.  M.  Schofield,  0.  0.  Howard,  D.  E.  Sickles,  G.  M. 
Dodge,  J.  M.  Corse,  Wager  Swayne,  Stewart  L.  Woodford, 
Rear-Admirals  D.  L.  Braine,  J.  A.  Greer,  Professor  IT.  L.  Ken- 
drick  and  Genera]  Joseph  E.  Johnston. 

It  was  a  very  imposing  procession  from  the  house  on  75th 
street  to  the  Ferry.  The  streets  were  lined  with  immense 
crowds.  The  remains  were  taken  on  a  funeral  train  on  the 
Pennsylvania  railroad  to  St.  Louis.  There  the  Society  of  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee  was  the  guard  of  Honor,  and  the  Mili 
tary  had  charge  of  the  procession  there,  his  remains  being  car 
ried  on  an  artillery  caisson,  and  the  streets  there  for  miles 
were  lined  with  citizens. 

The  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  marched  imme 
diately  in  the  rear  of  the  caisson,  and  the  scenes  along  the 
march  were  very  impressive — at  times  negroes,  viewing  the 
procession,  would  often  step  out  from  the  sidewalk  and  drop 
on  their  knees  and  offer  prayer  as  the  caisson  bearing  the 
remains  passed. 


PERSONAL  EECQLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 231 

At  the  burial  in  the  cemetery  at  St.  Louis,  the  services 
were  performed  by  Father  T.  E.  Sherman.  General  Schofield 
stood  by  my  side  at  the  side  of  the  grave,  and  as  the  son  of 
General  Sherman  read  the  service  without  a  tremor,  Schofield, 
with  tears  in  his  eyes,  turned  to  me  and  said:  "How  long 
could  you  do  that?"  I  answered,  "Not  a  moment."  And  on 
the  return  from  the  grave  to  our  cars  I  asked  Father  Sherman, 
knowing  what  his  feelings  must  be,  how  he  could  go  so  quiet 
ly  through  the  ceremony,  even  to  giving  the  order  for  the  fir 
ing  of  the  salute? 

And  his  answer  was:  "I  could  not  do  it,  only  that  it  was 
my  duty." 

General  Sherman  was  born  on  February  8,  1820,*  therefore 
was  a  few  days  over  71  years  old,  and  apparently  in  full 
vigor,  mentally  and  physically  when  he  died. 

My  own  thoughts  as  to  General  Sherman  were  given  upon 
his  death  to  a  New  York  journal  as  follows : 

I  was  with  General  Sherman  from  Corinth  to  Atlanta 
during  the  war.  We  implicitly  obeyed  him,  because  we  saw 
that  he  was  master  of  the  art  of  war,  and  we  soon  learned  that 
apparently,  in  an  outward  sense,  he  had  no  sympathy  outside 
of  his  duties.  He  was  called  a  tycoon  by  some  soldiers  on  that 
account,  but  no  soldier  received  an  order  of  his  with  any 
doubt.  They  believed  any  order  he  gave  meant  victory.  After 
the  war,  at  the  reunion,  at  the  banquet  table,  in  his  own  house, 
in  business  circles,  a  greater  man,  a  kinder  man  and  a  more 
lovable  man  it  has  never  been  my  lot  to  meet.  I  speak  of  him 
as  a  friend  who,  from  the  first  time  I  ever  met  him,  has 
been  almost  a  father  to  me.  I  speak  of  him  enthusiastically, 
for  my  heart  approves  what  my  head  knows  of  the  General. 

General  Sherman  in  the  war  and  General  Sherman  after 
the  war,  however,  were  two  distinct  persons.  During  the  war 
he  was  of,  all  commanders,  most  exact  and  exacting.  There 
was  with  him  but  one  thing  for  a  soldier  to  do,  and  that  was 
his  duty.  He  was  sometimes  gruff  and  sometimes  seemed  a 
hard  task  master,  and  yet,  within  his  heart,  no  commander 
thought  more  of  his  men  and  was  more  wrapped  up  in  their 
welfare.  Since  the  war  he  grew  gradually  milder,  kinder, 
warmer,  deeper  and  more  cordial.  No  great  general  has  been 
easier  of  approach  to  the  rich  and  poor  alike.  No  man  has  per- 


232 PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIONS  or  SHERMAN. 

.serially  done  more  to  aid  those  who  fought  under  him  and  in 
their  need  appealed  to  him  for  help.  His  charities  to  his  old 
soldiers  forced  economies  that  he  should  not  have  made. 
Wherever  he  went  he  was  the  center  of  friends  who  crowded 
around  him. 

Every  Saturday  he  would  come  to  my  office,  No.  1  Broad 
way,  and  watch  the  foreign  steamers  go  out  and  come  in.  You 
could  see  them  round  Sandy  Hook,  and  his  comments  on  them 
were  always  very  interesting. 

I  do  not  regard  the  march  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea  as  the 
great  military  achievement  of  General  Sherman.  It  was  a 
bold  march,  and  made  the  General's  name  forever  famous.  The 
Atlanta  campaign  was  a  far  greater  achievement,  with  men 
well  drilled,  well  commanded — a  battle  every  day.  The  cam 
paign  of  Atlanta  was  a  succession  of  brilliant  victories.  The 
march  to  the  sea  was  a  romance.  It  is  sung  all  over  the  world, 
and  is  the.  most  noted  because  it  split  the  Confederacy  in  two 
without  a  struggle,  and  because  Sherman  cast  loose  and 
staked  his  army,  as  people  thought,  recklessly.  But  he  knew 
there  was  no  force  to  stop  him  before  he  got  to  Savannah.  But 
infinitely  greater  in  a  military  sense  was  the  march  from 
Savannah  to  Goldsborough.  Here  Sherman  had  a  small  army, 
about  half  of  what  he  started  with  from  Chattanooga.  He 
was  cut  off  from  all  supplies  and  it  was  impossible  for  any 
men  from  the  north  to  reach  him.  He  marched  into  the  face 
of  all  the  forces  that  could  be  concentrated  in  all  the  South, 
with  the  enemy  doubling  up  before  him.  It  was  an  occasion 
that  required  generalship  of  the  highest  order,  military 
strategy  and  remarkable  courage  and  fortitude.  I  know  noth 
ing  in  the  history  of  the  wrar  that  was  a  greater  or  more  bril 
liant  or  more  successful  achievement,  except  Vicksburg.  In 
a  military  sense  it  made  Sherman.  It  is  only  a  few  days  ago 
that  I  was  talking  with  one  of  the  greatest  generals  of  Europe, 
and  he  expressed  to  me  the  same  opinion.  I  think  that  down 
in  his  heart  General  Sherman  himself  regarded  the  march 
from  Savannah  as  his  best  title  to  military  greatness. 

General  Sherman's  private  life  was  perfect.  He  was  a 
model  husband  and  a  loving  father.  His  private  life  is  as 
beautiful  and  as  sacred  as  his  military  life  was  distinguished. 
On  religious  matters  I  don't  know  the  exact  nature  of  his  be 
lief.  His  wife  was  a  devout  Catholic.  No  one  kne\v  her  but 
to  love  her,  a  woman  beautiful  in  her  devotion  to  her  church, 
and  the  General  doubtless  regarded  her  religious  beliefs  with 
favor  and  reverence. 

If  General  Sherman  had  a  weakness — I  speak  now  of  the 
time  during  the  war — no  one  ever  found  it  out.  He  was  always 
the  same.  He  was  never  despondent.  He  never  seemed  to 


•PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  SIIKHMAN. 


have  a  doubt.  To  all  appearances  he  was  too  great  for  dis 
couragements,  too  courageous  to  entertain  even  a  possibility 
of  failure,  and  of  too  much  faith  to  entertain  an  idea  of  any 
thing  but  ultimate  success.  He  rode  at  the  head  of  the  best 
drilled  and  disciplined  army  the  world  ever  saw,  as  one  on 
whom  was  laid  the  heaviest  weight  of  a  great  responsibility, 
but  who  believed  that  the  outcome  was  as  certain  as  the  sun 
was  to  rise  on  the  morrow.  The  things  that  affected  others 
did  not  affect  him.  What  others  hoped,  he  felt  and  believed 
with  his  whole  heart  and  soul.  Grant  himself,  made  greater 
by  the  final  victory  of  the  war,  was  in  almost  all  things  dif 
ferent  from  Sherman ;  but  in  loyalty,  in  faith  and  confidence 
in  their  owrn  plans,  they  were  alike.  General  Sherman  never 
had  any  patience  with  grumblers  and  growlers,  criticisers  of 
orders  and  the  "I  told  you  so's."  I  remember  well  a  meeting 
between  one  of  these  officers  and  General  Sherman.  General 
Sherman  sized  up  the  growler  and  said:  "What  are  you  com 
plaining  about?  You  are  an  officer.  You  ought  to  get  down 
on  your  knees  and  thank  Heaven  you  are  even  allowed  to 
carry  a  musket  in  the  great  cause  for  which  we  are  fighting." 
The  General  passed  on  and  the  growler  was  silenced. 

Upon  the  death  of  General  Sherman,  in  1891,  and  at  the  next 
meeting  of  the  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  in  Chi 
cago,  October  8,  1891,  the  following  committee  was  appointed 
for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  monument  in  Washington  in 
honor  and  memory  of  General  Sherman : 

Major-General  Grenville  M.  Dodge,  Colonel  J.  F.  How, 
Brigadier-General  Andrew  Hickenlo-oper,  Brigadier:General 
John  W.  Noble,  Colonel  David  B.  Henderson,  Major  S.  E.  Bar 
rett,  Colonel  Augustus  Jacobsen,  Colonel  "VV.  McCrory,  Colonel 
Cornelius  Cadle. 

That  committee,  with  the  aid  of  Congress,  raised  $123,- 
969.91  for  the  erection  of  the  monument.  By  the  act  of  Con 
gress,  approved  July  5,  1892,  making  it's  appropriation,  the 
Sherman  Monument  commission  was  created,  consisting  of  the 
president  of  the  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  the 
Secretary  of  War,  the  Commander  of  the  Army  of  the  United 
States. 

The  erection  of  the  monument  was  under  the  supervision 
of  the  following  officers  of  the  Corps  of  Engineers:  Col- 


234  PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 

onel  John  M.  Wilson,  1895-1897;  Lieutenant  Jno.  S.  Sewell, 
1897;  Colonel  Theodore  A.  Bingham,  1897-1903;  Colonel 
Thomas  W.  Symons,  1903. 

At  the  competition  of  models,  Carl  Rohl-Smith  was  select 
ed  as  the  sculptor  of  the  monument,  and  the  contract  was 
awarded  to  him  on  November  18th,  1896. 

Dedication  of  the  monument  was  October  15,  1903.  The 
military  and  naval  pageant  was  restricted  to  the  United  States 
forces,  army,  navy  and  marine  Corps,  stationed  in  the  vicinity 
of  Washington,  and  the  National  Guard  of  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia,  under  command  of  Lieutenant  General  S.  B.  M. 
Young. 

The  Societies  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  Army  of  the  Cumberland  and  Army  of  the  Ohio, 
attended  in  a  body,  and  were  represented  at  the  dedication 
orations.  The  President  of  the  Commission  at  the  dedicatory 
exercises  gave  the  following  description  of  the  monument : 

At  the  time  of  the  death  of  General  Sherman,  he  was  presi 
dent  of  the  Society  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee.  That  So 
ciety,  immediately  resolved  to  erect  in  Washington  a  suitable 
memorial  to  its  great  commander,  and,  with  the  aid  of  Con 
gress,  has  given  you  this  splendid  life-work  of  art. 

Immediately  after  the  great  review  of  all  the  armies  in 
Washington,  General  Sherman  went  to  his  home  in  St.  Louis. 
At  that  time  I  was  in  command  of  that  department,  and  in 
describing  the  grand  review  of  all  the  armies,  Sherman  said 
that  he  had  witnessed  the  march  of  that  magnificent  and  splen 
didly  equipped  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  felt  a  great  desire 
that  his  army  should  make  as  creditable  an  appearance.  After 
the  review  of  the  first  day,  he  returned  to  his  command  across 
the  Potomac,  and  called  around  him  his  commanding  officers 
and  told  them  what  he  had  witnessed,  urging  them  the  neces 
sity  of  their  making  known  to  their  commands  the  necessity 
for  them  to  brush  up  and  put  forth  their  best  efforts  in  con 
duct  and  marching  the  next  day. 

As  he  rode  at  the  head  of  his  column  up  Pennsylvania  av 
enue,  when  he  reached  the  rise  near  the  Treasury  Department, 
he  turned  and  looked  down  the  avenue  and  saw  his  old  army 
coming — with  their  old  spirit,  energy  and  swing — and  was  sat- 


PERSONAL  EECOLLECTIONS  OF  SHERMAN. 235 

isfied  that  they  would  do  their  best ;  and  he  believed  it  was  the 
happiest  and  most  satisfactory  moment  of  his  life.  The  crowd 
seemed  to  appreciate  his  thoughts,  and  welcomed  him  with  a 
great  ovation.  The  sculptor,  Carl  Kohl-Smith,  has  endeav 
ored  to  present  General  Sherman  in  bronz  as  he  appeared  at 
that  moment,  and  you  can  all  appreciate  how  ably  and  satis 
factorily  he  has  accomplished  his  work. 

The  two  allegorical  figures  represent  "war"  and  "peace," 
the  effect  of  which  probably  no  general  officer  more  emphat 
ically  enforced  than  General  Sherman. 

The  bas-reliefs  represent  on  the  north  front  the  "march  to 
the-  sea,"  on  the  east  front  Sherman  at  Chattanooga  attack 
ing  Bragg 's  right,  on  the  south  front  the  battle  of  Atlanta  on 
July  22,  the  greatest  battle  of  the  campaign,  and  Sherman 
walking  before  the  campfire,  with  hands  clasped  behind  him, 
in  deep  thought,  while  everything  around  him  was  sleeping. 
This  is  so  characteristic  that  all  who  served  under  Sherman 
will  appreciate  it.  He  once  said  to  me  that  we  little  knew  how 
many  anxious  hours  he  passed  in  pacing  in  front  of  his  tent  in 
thought  and  planning  while  we  were  quietly  sleeping. 

The  medallions  represent  the  Army  and  Corps  commanders 
of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  who  served  under  Sherman. 
They  are  McPherson  and  Howard,  Logan  and  Blair,  Smith  and 
Grierson,  Eansom  and  Dodge. 

The  four  arms  of  the  service,  engineers,  cavalry,  artillery 
and  infantry,  are  each  represented  by  a  soldier  as  he  appeared 
in  campaign. 

The  mosaic  walk  surrounding  the  monument  has  in  it  the 
names  of  the  principal  battles  in  which  General  Sherman  was 
engaged. 

It  was  a  great  misfortune  that  the  sculptor,  Carl  Rohl- 
Smith,  died  with  his  work  only  half  completed,  but  it  was  a 
very  fortunate  circumstance  that  his  wife,  Mrs.  Sarah  Rohl- 
Smith,  who  is  present  today,  could  take  up  his  work  where  he 
left  it  and  carry  it  to  so  successful  a  completion,  and  on  be 
half  of  the  commission,  and  of  the  societies  of  the  four  great 
armies  here  represented,  and,  I\  know,  of  all  others  who  have 
seen  this  great  work  of  art,  I  wish  to  extend  to  her  our  hearty 
thanks  and  appreciation  of  the  great  success  she  has  achieved 
in  the  efficient  and  satisfactory  manner  in  which  this  national 
statue  has  been  completed. 

The  commission,  through  the  courtesy  of  the  United  States 
Minister,  has  placed  upon  the  tomb  of  Carl  Rohl-Smith,  in 
Copenhagen,  Denmark,  at  this  moment  a  suitable  floral  tribute 
to  his  memory,  and  in  testimony  of  its  appreciation  of  his 
great  work. 


236  PERSOXAL  BECOLLECTIOXS  or  SHERMAN. 

Master  William  Tecumseh  Thorndike,  a  grandson  of  Gen 
eral  Sherman,  unveiled  the  monument.  The  immense  audi 
ence  was  then  addressed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
who  was  followd  by  Colonel  D.  B.  Henderson  of  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee,  Major-General  Daniel  E.  Sickles  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  General  Charles  H.  Grosvenor  of  the  Army 
of  the  Cumberland,  and  General  Thomas  J.  Henderson  of  the 
Army  of  the  Ohio. 

We  see  then  that  General  Sherman,  as  a  soldier,  and  Wil 
liam  Tecumseh  Sherman  as  a  citizen,  were  distinctly  two  dif 
ferent  men.  Sherman  as  a  soldier  asked  nothing,  would  take 
nothing  except  duty  from  his  subordinates,  and  he  gave  noth 
ing  but  absolute  loyalty  and  duty  to  a  superior.  He  had  the 
good  will  of  every  man  who  worked  under  him.  I  know  of  no 
man  who  ever  received  an  order  to  make  a  march  or  go  into 
battle,  but  felt  he  would  make  the  one  successful  and  win  the 
other. '  Sherman  had  the  nickname  in  the  Army  of  the  Ten 
nessee  of  the  "Old  Tycoon,"  but  the  soldiers  knew  that  he 
protected  and  looked  after  their  interests,  and  they  knew  he 
would  take  care  of  them. 

General  Sherman,  after  the  war,  when  he  came  into  civil 
life,  was  one  of  the  most  generous  of  men.  To  the  old  soldiers 
and  commanders  \vho  served  under  him,  he  could  not  be  too 
gracious.  At  every  opportunity  he  would  push  them  to 
the  front.  At  a  dinner  at  his  club,  or  at  his  home,  he  had  a 
nice  way  or  faculty  of  making  every  soldier  believe  that  he 
had  done  something  wonderful,  or  he  gave  him  the  credit  of 
having  done  something  that  would  give  him  standing  where- 
ever  he  was. 

He  spent  a  great  portion  of  his  income  for  the  personal 
good  of  old  soldiers,  and  no  person  could  have  traveled  with 
him,  as  I  have  done,  and  see  the  expressions  of  love,  sympathy 
and  respect  he  received,  but  would  value  him  as  I  do — for  his 
large  generosity  and  great  deeds  after  the  war.  And,  as  a 


PERSONAL  KECOLLECTIOXS  OF  SHERMAX.  237 

statesman,  his  writings  and  speeches  stamp  him  as  able  to 
grapple  with  any  national  problem. 

It  seems  almost  impossible  for  us  who  knew  him  from  the 
beginning  of  the  war  to  its  close,  and  then  to  have  known  him 
from  the  close  of  the  war  to  his  death,  to  appreciate  the  two 
distinct  qualities  that  made  him  superior  in  each  of  his  two 
lives. 

The  patience,  the  firmness,  the  resolution  with  which  he 
pursued  his  difficult  campaign  against  Johnston  from  Chatta 
nooga  to  Atlanta,  constitute  one  of  the  finest  achievements  in 
history.  The  boldness  of  conception,  the  ingenuity  of  the  plan, 
ihe  accepting  of  desperate  chances  in  giving  Lee  an  opportun 
ity  to  crush  him  in  his  campaign  from  Savannah  to  Golds- 
boro,  will  forever  give  Sherman  prestige  as  a  bold,  fearless, 
strategical  commander.  Upon  that  campaign  alone  I  am  will 
ing  to  stake  Sherman's  military  reputation  for  all  time. 


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